/ stevenwarran's Library/ Notes/ November 22, 2008, Kaieteur News, The Laurie Lewis interview, by Freddie Kissoon,
November 22, 2008, Kaieteur News, The Laurie Lewis interview, by Freddie Kissoon,
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November 22, 2008, Kaieteur News, The Laurie Lewis interview, by Freddie Kissoon,
In July, I published part of my interview with former Commissioner of Police, Laurie Lewis. There can be no doubt about it: Mr. Lewis, because of his more than thirty-five years of service to state security, is a source of immense knowledge.
I cannot truly say it was the best of interviews I have had (I have done quite a large number, especially for television).
Mr. Lewis chose not to go as far as I expected or would have liked him to go. He chose not to speak on his assessment of President Jagdeo.
In this day and age, when there is talk about President Hoyte's wife not getting state payments that she is entitled to, one could understand Laurie’s reluctance.
The only area of President Jagdeo's rule that the former Commissioner of Police ventured into was on employment practice.
He holds the unshakeable position that Mr. Jagdeo should have around him learned people, even if these people are not supporters of Mr. Jagdeo's party. He takes the view that this is a policy Mr. Jagdeo must adopt sooner than later.
As someone who served former President Forbes Burnham for a long time, Mr. Lewis knows that Forbes Burnham had an uncanny admiration for erudite Guyanese and was happy to have them work for his government.
It was an experience speaking to Laurie Lewis on the nature of the man Forbes Burnham. I always wondered why people like Major-General Joe Singh, Brigadier David Granger, Halim Majeed, Keith Austin, Elvin McDavid and others are so blind to the deep, authoritarian instincts of Forbes Burnham. I got glimpses of the answer while chatting with Lewis.
Lewis was all in praise of Forbes Burnham. Laurie Lewis refused to answer any inquiry that dealt with the wrongdoings of the founder of the PNC. I kept pressing, but he kept his stance. I pelted the Rodney assassination at him; he refused to touch the issue.
Two statements he was happy to make about Burnham. One is that he disagreed with the banning of flour. The other is when he said: “In the end, Burnham lost his acuity.” I asked him what he meant by that, and he replied, “I am saying he lost his acuity. Who wants to know what that means, let them look it up."
What power does a dictator possess that he can get highly educated men and woman to bend to his ways, overlook his faults, and serve him faithfully? There is this case of the aristocratic architect, Albert Speer, who was smitten by Hitler and ended up serving in Hitler's Cabinet. Speer remained a Hitler admirer until his death.
It was clear to me that Laurie Lewis thought that Forbes Burnham was a visionary leader who knew how to lead, plan, think and strategize.
Laurie Lewis was not prepared to talk about the wrong things that Burnham did to this nation. We moved on to broader issues, like a comparison between the PNC Government and the present PPP cabal.
He didn't want to go in that direction, but he did say that whatever wrongs the PNC Government did, there should not be any vengeance regime from the PPP Government.
He chose not to elaborate, but it was not hard to see that he believes that the PPP has retaliated against people who served the PNC.
I got him to admit that, under both governments, mistakes were made and wrong directions were taken. He believes that both the PNC and PPP have manipulated racial division to serve their respective narrow interests. He thinks Hoyte was an exception, because he tried to reach out to other races.
He expressed to me his sadness at what has happened to tertiary education. He explained that one of the joys he found since retiring was lecturing at UG, and he exclaimed that it has broken his heart to see what UG has become. He made the point that no government should put a budgetary ceiling on education.
For Laurie Lewis, education is the key to a country’s future. Before we left that subject, he felt that since education was involved, the Government should not have discontinued its annual subsidy to Critchlow Labour College.
On the question of the Monica Reece murder, he takes the position that a prominent citizen saw the killer drive way but he refused to cooperate with the police.
Had he done so, there would have been a murder charge. We ended our chat on that topic, and it left a chill inside of me. To know how this killer can get around in social circles and be accepted in high society, yet cannot be touched by the police. Sad indeed!
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