Enock Mayanja Kiyaga
29 October 2007
opinion
Kampala — BHARRAT Jagdeo, the president of the cooperative republic of Guyana, is a simple man. His simplicity could be borne out of character or may reflect the simplicity of the country he heads (only 700,000 people). I was stunned by the humility of President Jagdeo.
I was part of the group of journalists sponsored by the commonwealth Secretariat to train and cover the 2007 finance ministers' meeting that took place in Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America. We were given a red carpet reception and we ended up having more access to the president than the ordinary Guyanese.
The theme of the conference, "Climate change challenges facing finance ministers" rhymes with the country whose size is the same as Uganda, but 80% is covered by tropical rainforest and the people occupy only 20% of the total land area.
Climate change threatens more of the developing world and the small states which comprise the biggest part of the Commonwealth. But why call finance ministers and not their counterparts that deal with the environment? I asked Ramfold Smith, the Commonwealth deputy secretary general why it was done that way. "This is an issue that goes beyond the narrow confines of environment," he said.
In Uganda, for example, the Government had to re-adjust its budget in order to address the flood disaster in the East and to re-open the bridges that were submerged during the rains. Finance minister Dr. Ezra Suruma said a tune of sh22b was set aside to address this issue. Just 400 metres from Brandville Hotel where we had the training was a gigantic wall that separates the land from the sea. Apparently, the land is below sea level, so the dutch who were the first colonial masters before they lost the territory to Britain through the Napoleonic wars between 1780-1813 built a strong wall that blocks the sea waves from flooding the land.
The wall looks old, but firm despite being constructed over 200 years ago. When we stood on the wall and got a feel of the fresh Atlantic breeze, my mind could not settle, but remember the Makerere University fence that collapsed in the September rains almost immediately after construction! We were later to discover the beauty of Guyana through the boat ride we had to Arrow Point, a resort at the creek off River Demerera. For those of us who never had a boat ride before, the captain warned us not to touch the water or pull any leaf, saying it could turn out to be a snake. As we passed through the narrow creek, I got an opportunity to interact with nature, fauna and flora. No wonder, Guyana is the home of the Amazon rainforest we read about in Geography during our high school days. Just two hours away lay the portion of the Amazon that is formed by the Guiana Shield, which makes to the rain patterns that sustain the vast North American agricultural industry.
The official opening of the finance ministers' meeting at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown later that day became the anti-climax of the trip. The speeches were the usual type, but I found the one from Jagdeo most captivating. He made a strong case against tropical deforestation when he said: "Tropical deforestation contributes 18% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. That is about the same as United States, the equivalent of India and China combined, and more than the cumulative total of aviation since it began until the year 2025. In just 24 hours, tropical deforestation can release as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as eight million people flying from London to New York"
As I listened to this speech, my mind went straight to Mabira. For any mention of the word Amazon, the Mabira comparison came in handy. Here were two different governments with almost the same natural resources and tourist potential, one committed to conserving it and another one insisting on destroying part of the rainforest for sugarcane plantation.
I was relieved to learn later that indeed, the Government had finally dropped the plans to give away part of Mabira ending months of public apprehension and controversy. I learnt of this during an exclusive interview with Dr. Suruma at a dinner hosted by president Jagdeo that evening at his statehouse in Georgetown.
In fact, Suruma would not have got a better platform to make this revelation than Guyana.
Just the day before we left, we got another invitation to State House just to interact with Jagdeo. So relaxed was the atmosphere - it was only us journalists, cameras and notebooks.
President Jagdeo looks forward to coming to Kampala for Chogm next month for the official business, but one person he wants to meet before departure is Henry Kyemba, the former cabinet minister and the author of The State of Blood, an autobiography of former dictator Iddi Amin Dada. "I have read his book several times and when I was told Henry Kyemba still lives, I thought he would be one of the people I should meet on my visit to Kampala next month."
The writer is a graduate research student of politics and the media based in the UK
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