Freddie Kissoon on the AFC platform on Nomination Day

The Alliance For Change (AFC) has sprung to the defence of dismissed University of Guyana lecturer and columnist Freddie Kissoon who had taken to the campaign trail for the party in the lead up to the 2011 elections.

The political science lecturer on Monday confirmed reports that his contract with the institution has been terminated and that he will no longer be allowed to lecture there.

When contacted by demwaves.com AFC chairman Khemraj Ramjattan said his party condemns the action and will be raising it in parliament and with President Donald Ramotar.

According to him, it is “disastrous” for such a thing to happen in what is still the president’s “honeymoon period” and added that it was “continuity” in the vein of Jagdeo’s rule.

It is the PPP’s culture to “cut the throats” of dissenters, he stated, saying that that is exactly what is happening now as he noted that Kissoon has been a harsh critic of the PPP government over the years and has made no bones about it.

Kissoon has regularly used his column in the Kaieteur News daily to express his views about the government. There is currently a court case in progress following a libel suit that was brought against him by former President Bharrat Jagdeo whom he had accused of being an “ideological racist.”

Ramjattan told demwaves.com that he was made to understand that it was all of the government-aligned persons on the Council, of which Kissoon was a part, who voted for the lecturer’s termination at a meeting at which neither he nor the Trades Union Congress representative was invited.

Ramjattan said he has asked to see Kissoon’s contract and once there is a case that could be taken to court he stands ready to defend the columnist.

APNU chairman David Granger was not immediately available for comment.

Meanwhile, University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS) President Duane Edwards told demwaves.com that he had not yet spoken to Kissoon and chose to address the issue in a more holistic manner.

“Any shortening of the academic staff at the University of Guyana will adversely affect students because students are already experiencing a decline in the quality of instruction because the lecturers that are currently here are fetching serious burdens, they are doing more than they are required to do,” he said.

Edwards added that such interference with the quality of instruction could have a negative effect on the university in terms of its accreditation.

When asked if there was anything the UGSS plan to do in relation to Kissoon’s termination Edwards said they will be going to the students taking the classes that Kissoon lectured.

“If at the start of the semester there are no lecturers available for those classes and not only those classes but the entire campus; we need to get an idea of how many courses that will no be starting at the beginning of the semester because of lack of lecturers and based on that we will no what kind of action we will take,” Edwards said.

He added that a meeting is also scheduled between the UGSS, the UG Workers Association and the UG Staff Association to collaborate on a strategy to tackle faculty shortage.