Author Archives: Ralph Ramkarran

THE KILLING FIELDS

Killers are on the rampage in Georgetown and the streets are positively dangerous. The spectacular and gruesome public execution with heavy guns of five persons in Cummings Lodge, including a mother and child, one in South Georgetown and two in Campbelville suggests either that rival gangs are at war or that a number of people, some of whom are ‘known’ to the Police, are the victims of one or more gangs of killers or that criminals have fallen out. No one knows why and if the Police does, they are not saying, except for a tantalizing hint. Most people assume that these gangs are involved in drug running. The Police hinted that missing drugs was responsible for the slaughter of the five persons in Cummings Lodge including a young mother and her child. It is not known whether the continuing slaughter is for the same or a some other reason.  The methodology used by these criminals is obviously designed to send messages.

THE JUDICIARY UNDER THE NEW KENYAN CONSTITUTION

The general elections held in Kenya in December, 2007, were determined by international observers to be rigged in favour of the incumbent, President Mwai Kibaki. There was a large scale eruption of violence in which over 1,000 persons were killed. Yet the opposition, the Orange Democratic Movement, led by Raila Odinga, now the Prime Minister […]

OPPOSITION TURMOIL

While the PPP is laying the groundwork for the election of its presidential candidate, seeking to offer to the Guyanese people the best and most qualified person who will attract the broadest cross-section of support, the opposition is experiencing escalating turmoil. The increasing tensions within the two major opposition revolve around the selection of their respective presidential candidates, amidst the fading possibility of presenting to the country a unified approach with a single, agreed candidate.
 
It had been originally hoped that a third party and its candidate would have reduced the percentage of votes of the PPP to below 50 percent and therefore be in a position to call the shots, so to speak, that is, be able to dictate the composition and policies of the newly constituted government. That had long been the dream of the external forces when the United Force was established in the early 1960s. It failed. Then in 2006, high hopes were placed in the AFC with the expectation that it would complete the work that had been started by the UF. Once again, it did not happen. The PPP continues to defy the odds.  

HARAMBEE

In a referendum held in August, the people of Kenya voted by an overwhelming majority of 65 percent to support a new constitution. The draft, subjected to nationwide discussions and amendment, had been approved by the National Assembly in April.  
By 2007 Kenya had been believed to be politically stable and growing at an annual rate of 5 percent. The increasingly authoritarian Daniel Arap Moi, who was President from 1978 to 2002, had term limits placed on him. His successor, President Mwai Kibaki’s, while avoiding Moi’s authoritarian excesses, failed to keep election promises to end corruption.