Dear Editor,
The last political icon of the 40’s, the veteran Eusi Kwayana passed on after nearly eight decades of service.
Eusi Kwayana, a veteran political activist, an elder statesman, cultural and political musician and prolific writer died quietly in the United States last Saturday. His was a marathon life of over one hundred years and he will be remembered as a militant grassroot activist. He changed his name from Sydney King to a Swahili name Eusi Kwayana in the late 60’s and was responsible for the creation of ASRE and ASCRIA and was a strong admirer of the independence struggle in India and Ghana.
Kwayana writing in the Daylight after the demise of Dr Jagan in 1997 stated that as a young school teacher his entrance into politics was fired by listening to a charismatic young Cheddi Jagan speaking at a public meeting in Plaisance; what motivated him was Dr Jagan’s speech that ended with the slogan “workers unite you have nothing to lose but your chains”. When the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) was formed in 1946, Kwayana set a PAC group in Buxton that was visited by Jan Carew. There was also a PAC group formed in Kitty led by the late Boysie Ramkarran another political stalwart. The PAC group in Buxton passed a resolution to form a political party that resulted in the formation of the PPP in 1950.
The elections of 1953 that were contested under universal adult suffrage under limited self-government saw a massive victory for the PPP. This led to a six-member cabinet with Sydney King as the Minister of Communication and Works. However, before the government could have started Burnham demanded leadership or nothing that led to what was known as crisis week. I was told that when the cabinet members voted for a leader they were split evenly with Sydney supporting Dr Jagan. Dr Jagan would eventually be elevated as the Chief Minister. Mr. King’s famous “confounded nonsense” remark to the British Governor showed that he was no pushover. The constitution was suspended after 133 days in office. This would lay the foundation for the split of the PPP in 1955.
Sydney King parted company with the PPP over two issues first the suspension of Martin Carter and Rory Westmaas and the West Indian Federation. He decided to stand as an independent candidate in the 1957 election however, Dr Jagan approached him to go on the PPP list. When he refused Balram Singh Rai went as the candidate and won the East Coast constituency. The late Paul O’ Hara nee Persaud, himself a Buxtonion, told me that racism hit the roof after that. This led one senior PPP leader to conclude that a good strategy would have been to allow Sydney King to run as an independent candidate. From the 60’s to the 70’s he was in and out of the PNC but from 1973 he stood strongly against rigged election, the shooting of Dr Josh Ramsammy, and the refusal to employ world renowned historian Dr Walter Rodney at UG and later his political assassination. Apart from his political activism he was also a prolific writer. He coined the revolutionary songs for the two major political parties the PPP and PNC.
Farewell to a fallen political icon Eusi Kwayana. May his soul rest in peace.
Yours faithfully,
Rajendra Rampersaud
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