Event Readings
Host Moray House Trust
Date Wednesday 9th October 2019
In April 1953, the first elections with universal adult suffrage were held in British Guiana, bringing the PPP to power. As many will know, both Forbes Burnham and Cheddi Jagan held senior posts in the PPP at that time. Four and a half months later, on 9th October, the constitution was suspended, a state of emergency was declared, and British troops arrived.
The readings drew on accounts written by three key political actors (Ashton Chase, Eusi Kwayana and Cheddi Jagan). They also featured the poetry of Martin Carter (then a member of the PPP executive) and extracts from The Robertson Report, the fruit of the Colonial Office’s subsequent Commission of Inquiry.
Readers were Sara Bharrat, Chris Gopaul, Dr Joyce Jonas, Mark Luke-Edwards and Kojo Mc Pherson.