Dear Editor,
Was justice served? Or was it another travesty? Two men convicted of the gruesome murders of Isaiah Henry and Joel Henry almost six years ago. A third accused turned State witness against his two alleged partners in a crime that rocked this nation to its foundations. Did the Henry family get justice? The spirits of two young cousins now find rest? Were the real murderers caught, convicted? In this country, one never knows, because for every wounding national story, there are three sides that clash and fight to tell divisive stories about the same issue. I stir uneasily.
A marijuana field is part of the plot. The heinous murders of the Henry youths revealed how nakedly divided the citizens of this country are. It was and remains a toxic combination. Two murders in mysterious circumstances, race and politics raising their disfigured faces. Rage and violence flaring. Bloodshed, more spilled. The Henry murders did more than maul a community. They resulted in more than torn-up roads. They did more than rip open new wounds. They did more than foster ethnic fears. Those two murders tore apart this country. Savaged its conscience. It has not recovered. For another death occurred. A young girl by drowned in suspicious circumstances reopened old wounds, ancient fears, and inflicted new scars on a Guyana that can’t hold them.
With two men given life sentences for the two brutal murders, can Guyanese recover, restart on new footing? More likely that there will be endless arguments in bars and streets, in minibuses and village corners, of whether the right men were convicted and sentenced. Beyond two young men barbarically killed. This country desperately needs some semblance of healing. Instead of leaders trying through honest effort, politics always intrudes, leaving Guyana grimmer than earlier.
The great national patrimony could be used to bring citizens together. What’s better for not some people, but all citizens. Instead of leaders using the oil wealth to unite citizens, it has been weaponized to wrench them apart. Some favoured with its fruits, others squeezed out. Left hanging resentfully around the edges. When the wealth is monopolized by the rich and powerful, it’s inevitable that the poor get poorer. Left to look at neighbours who reap rich harvests. Left to harbour the worst conclusions about them. All that’s required is a suspicious murder in a remote backdam. Or, a suspicious fire. Or, a disturbing accident or drowning. Then the world gets a glimpse of how Guyanese hurry to target each other in the manner of ancient generational enemies. I see, absorb.
Developments, small or large, twisted into opportunity by politicians to propagandize to their benefit. By citizens more deeply distrusting their fellow citizens. Foreign investors flock to Guyana and profit from oil, gold, and other minerals. Plus, many opportunities that spring up in support of those resources exploited for pennies and shillings to this country. Prices for items at the market are a source of discontent. Who takes advantage of whom? Who subsidized in the billions? Yet prices climb higher and higher, then serve as bones of contention.
Some happenings in the streams of Guyanese life are more nuanced. Invisible. Not raw as the Henry murders. Those two murders in Cotton Tree blew hard, were like a storm driving all in its path. Many still carry bruises. One question will be debated for a long time. Were the right people convicted? Eyewitness considered. Preponderance of evidence weighed. Yet protestations of innocence. Claims of conspiracy, coverup. Declarations of satisfaction. My own contemplations.