On Thursday, March 30, at 11:34 am, the Guyana Chronicle posted a WANTED poster on their Facebook page for Mr. Mutope Tacuma Ogunseye without any accompanying explanation or context. Mr. Ogunseye is an Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a political party in Guyana. The bulletin was released one day after the Declaration of the Summit of Democracy, which included a commitment to “respect for human rights, including freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association” as essential components of democracy. More than seventy countries attended the summit and agreed on seventeen declarations, with some exceptions.
Neither the Guyana Police Force nor any other state entity has disclosed the reason for the bulletin, which states that Mr. Ogunseye is wanted for “several serious offenses,” including “attempting to excite racial hostility or ill-will on the ground of race,” contrary to Guyana’s Racial Hostility Act, during a public meeting at Buxton, East Coast Demerara, on March 9, 2023.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall has cited Mr. Ogunseye for “sedition, seditious libel, inciting riotous behavior, and exciting racial hostility in order to create a breakdown of law and order within the State of Guyana, if not treason.” The police did not provide further information on the other “several serious offenses.”
Many in the opposition believe that these charges are a deliberate move to silence Mr. Ogunseye’s democratic right to criticize the government and exercise free speech. However, despite the condemnation of Mr. Ogunseye’s remarks by the government, private sector, and several religious organizations, the WPA and Mr. Ogunseye have refused to retract his statements.
Mr. Ogunseye, who is 71 years old and resides in 219 Section ‘C,’ Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, earlier this week stated that if he was charged with treason, he would plead guilty with an explanation. The maximum penalty for treason is death by hanging.
This development has stirred significant interest in both national and international media outlets, and the situation is being closely monitored. It remains to be seen how this issue will be resolved and what impact it will have on Guyana’s democracy and freedom of speech.
