Sex, taxes and other things: No secret in a small city

Jan 22, 2012 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

In penning this column I became afraid of libel. In that case I did what I always do when fear of libel attacks me as my finger (singular; I type with one finger only) moves on the keyboard. I would call lawyer-friends, read the particular paragraphs and ask them if the libel-seekers could get me. I would be advised to re-work the wording. I did just that for this column.
Three lawyers instructed not to name any person or point to any office. Just let it remain general, they insisted. So you are on safe ground if you say “in the police force,” “in the medical community,” “in the government”, “in the media.” Just leave it general, they say, and no one can claim that you named them. So here we go.
There are allegations going around that someone in the DPP office made contact with a certain police officer to release a man who got forced sex from four boys. My friends in the media have told me that the particular officer did reveal that he was contacted.
This writer has evidence that certain prosecutions in both the magistrate courts and the High Court have been dropped because of the religion of the accused persons. This writer has evidence that certain tax investigations were halted because those giving the stop order and those cheating on the taxes were of the same religion.
In a small city like Georgetown, top secrets, nasty conspiracies, deviant relationships, shady real estate deals by powerful politicians, homosexual orgies by the poolside, uncivilized behaviour at outlandish parties, naked adultery, police corruption, police bribe-taking, forced sex offered by female employees to demanding political bosses, employment of unqualified people because of political connection and a whole range of sickening social depravities cannot be kept secret. Why? Here is the main reason.
There is too much overlapping in a small country. In this overlapping scenario, ordinary citizens have access to scary information. And they share it. They share it with teachers who once taught them; with media people that they can trust; with their relatives who in turn tell their friends who in turn tell others.
Here are some snippets from my experience. One of my former UG students met me in Fogarty’s. While chatting with former students, the subject always comes up as to where you are working since graduation. In this particular case, I was told that she and another colleague, while auditing a certain company owned by a businessman of a certain religious orientation, stumbled upon tax evasion, they were immediately reassigned.
A friend told me he was the driver of “Killaman.” In Berbice, “Killaman” got drunk and started to fondle the Amerindian live-in maid. When her employer intervened he was pushed aside. When the driver intervened, he received a stinging slap.
I met an employee when I used to do the Freddie Kissoon Notebook on Channel 13. A few months ago, I ran into him opposite Ed Ahmad’s Enterprise on Mandela Avenue. He told me that none of the Ministers he drove for pays overtime, even though he would spend long hours in the night driving them to some unholy activities.
He said to me, “Freddie, ah lef de job driving these people; these people are dogs.”
Three years ago, a high-ranking member of the cricketing community in Guyana asked me to speak to a policeman. The cop told me he was under intense pressure not to testify against a businessman’s son. The incident stemmed from his intervention to prevent a party that was going on in the wee hours of the morning. The businessman’s son pulled a gun and attempted to shoot him. Because of the businessman’s connection in his religious community, another person of the same religion stopped the prosecution.
A former student in the International Relation programme at UG went to work in the state media. She told that not a day passed without a certain Minister requesting sex. I remember one particular word she used to me. She said, “Mr. Kissoon, he was RELENTLESS.”  Sadly, two of her female colleagues slept with him.
Another bigwig who claims certain universities bestow professorships on him is a known sexual harasser. Even one of the female guards complained to me about him   I know why the secretary of a certain Hindu prince committed suicide. I know which political prince recently bought a property in Georgetown because the buyer told a certain sports administrator who in turn told us in the media.
Do you know that Mr. Leonora has properties all over Guyana? Can a secret survive in Guyana?