Moments that marked Guyana’s Independence

Jun 01, 2025 Features / Columnists, News, Waterfalls Magazine

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59 years on…

Kaieteur News-  It is not unusual for Independence Day in Guyana to be marked by activities like flag raising ceremonies, parades and other types of patriotic and celebratory activities to commemorate the occasion.

As such, on the heels of the nation’s 59^th anniversary as a sovereign State, Kaieteur News took a look back at the historical moments that marked Guyana’s independence.

This publication caught up with a small remnant of persons, who were integrally involved in the details of first independence. Hamilton Green a career politician who is a former Prime Minister and Mayor of Georgetown. Green, 95 is sole surviving official of the delegation that attended the constitutional conferences in London when the date for the Independence was selected in 1965.

Another key personality is former lieutenant of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Desmond Roberts who helped to hoist the first Golden Arrowhead at the flag raising ceremony which marked the nation’s first Independence Day on May 26, 1966 and finally, Mr. Ronald Austin, a diplomat, who served in the foreign service of his country for many years. Mr. Austin was among the first sets of Guyanese to benefit from the educational perks of a newly sovereign state.

Each of the men spoke vividly of the pre-independence era–the violence, racial segregation and riot that marred Guyana’s struggle independence but Green who served in various capacities as a politician gave a more detailed account of some of the events that took place.

According to him, the internal politics in British Guiana drove the racial tensions, strikes, and riots.

“The struggle for independence was heightened when Hubert Critchlow formed the Labour Union and the public affairs committee was established with Janet Jagan, Dr Cheddi Jagan, Ashton Chase and few other folks.”

He recalled that the “People Progressive Party (PPP) founded by two factions led by Forbes Burnham and Dr. Cheddi Jagan was the first mass party in the country. It was initially a multi-ethnic party supported by workers and intellectuals in the 1950s

However by 1957, the PPP had split into two factions, which competed against each other at the elections; the Jaganites and Burnhamites, the split helped to drive the social and political division in the country.

“That situation highlighted the deep-seated political and social divisions within the country leading up the riots and the unrest between 1962 and 1965 were very bad …”

Green said.  Despite this, the former Prime Minister noted that the internal turmoil and struggle for independence paid off with a number of historical Guyanese political figures like Burnham, Dr Jagan and Sidney King (Eusi Kwayana) and others played key roles in the struggle.

Moreover, the highlight of Green’s Independence recollection was being a part of the British Guiana Constitutional Conferences.

The conferences were a series of meetings held in London with the aim of establishing a new constitution for the colony, ultimately leading to its independence as Guyana. These conferences played a crucial role in shaping Guyana’s political and social landscape as it transitioned from colonial rule to self-government.  The final conference was held at a time that Burnham had won the elections and formed a government.

He said “I’m the only person alive to attend that conference where the date for independence was fixed. All of the other persons are gone. Let me tell you the story about that, Burnham wanted February 23rd as an independent date to commemorate the struggle by Cuffy.”

Green recalled “But the British quite rightly said there is enough time to make all the preparation for the flags between the date of meeting and the independence, Peter D’Aguiar wanted August 1st which is the date the British gave the Africans to celebrate their emancipation but Burnham said he didn’t want no date fixed by the British so they agreed it would be a date between February 23 and August 1.”

He continued “At the conference which I was present the British then said why not take the date May 24th but before the words came out their mouths, Burnham was so sharp. He said no gentlemen! That is the Queen’s official birthday.  So we ended up with May 26, 1966 as the date for our independence.”

NATIONAL PRIDE

With the date set for Independence, the delegation who attended the conferences in London returned home and the preparations for the first independence ceremony began.

Second Lieutenant Desmond Roberts a young GDF officer was integrally involved in those activities. Roberts who currently lives in the United States recalled that it was a few months shy of his 21st birthday when he was selected to hoist the flag.  It was a moment of national pride and he had rehearsed diligently for it.

“What I recall about that night is that I was very nervous obviously, I didn’t want anything to go wrong,” Colonel Roberts said.

He said that the fact he rehearsed gave him some confidence. In addition to this, Mr. Roberts said another officer; Ulric Pilgrim was assigned to help him with hoisting the first Golden Arrowhead.

“It was fortunate that we rehearsed because the actual flag was three times and four times the size I had been rehearsing with. It was good that we had two people there because it was not acceptable for the flag to be touching the ground; so that was very helpful.”

According to him, the big challenge there was the sea breeze. The ceremony was held at the national park in Thomas Land in close proximity to the seawalls.

Roberts recalled: “That night was a very windy night; luckily the flag went up slowly and when it got to the top it snapped out. That loud sound, you know, I couldn’t forget the sound; the snap of the flag. It was the first time that I myself had seen the flag and the first time that any Guyanese had seen the flag. It was a remarkable feeling and the sound of awe, pride and wonder that people gave off.”

He said one of the more remarkable things that night was when then Premier Burnham arrived at the ground, he called Dr. Cheddi Jagan who was the leader of the opposition at the time and the two of them embraced.

“To my mind that was so significant because we had a lot of violence leading up to the independence, between 1962 and 1965. For them to embrace was a remarkable feeling because a lot of people were in attendance,” he said.

PERKS OF INDEPENDENCE

Meanwhile, Mr. Austin who was still a young man when Guyana became an Independent State spoke of some of the perks of being a Sovereign State.

He recalled that “The city was gaily decorated, beautifully decorated with emblems and slogans.”

The first time he saw the Golden Arrowhead, Austin recalled was at the ceremony where Dr. Jagan embraced Burnham.

“It was a big crowd there and that crowd of people, most of whom thought that Guyana would have never been an independent country because of negative developments within the country, mainly the riots and unrest that had their hopes of Independence dashed.”

But what he also recalled about living in Independent Guyana is opportunities that opened up for many citizens.

“I was young but I had the feeling that as Guyana finally became an independent State that we would realize all the dreams and ambitions that this country had had for some time.”

He noted that he was one of the persons who benefited from the opportunity to study abroad—something that could have never happened in pre-independent Guyana.

The former diplomat noted that this was one of the many perks of independence.

“Before that, Guyana was a place that many would find unrecognizable it was socially segregated and virtually an apartheid state; in the sense that if you were of a certain colour of race there were clubs you couldn’t join – for instance the Watooka Club in Linden—that was reserved for Europeans… All of the clubs around Georgetown were also racially segregated.

As a result, Austin recalled that one of the first courses of action taken by Premier Burnham was to pass a law that clubs had to be integrated.

Another perk of independence came in form of employment.

“Before that, if you wanted to work in the bank or certain areas you had to be a certain social standing or race. The place opened where people could be employed on the basis of merit and qualifications generally not the colour of your skin.”

“Now Guyanese were free to pursue any path in life on the basis of merit and not based on race, religion or politics,” the retired Foreign Service officer explained.

He said that many citizens saw independence as opening up new opportunities and making the country more equal for all persons.

“Then a lot of people were like me, I grew up in Da Silva Street [Newtown] my parents relatively poor…You had a sense now after independence that you had a chance, new opportunities to seize….”

“I don’t think without independence I would have gone to England to study… In those days, people like me never got scholarships, all the scholarships went to the Europeans or what you would call the big shots of society,” Mr. Austin said.

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