Tag Archives: Selwyn R. Cudjoe

Who Is In Charge Here?

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 09, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIt is one thing to win an election. It is quite another thing to govern a country. It’s good to rule by consensus but disastrous when no one is in charge and the leadership functions by vaps. It is exciting when a leader is guided by a sense of good will. It is frightening when such a leader is not guided by any core principles and the ship of state is adrift and rudderless.
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A Presidential Challenge

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 01, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWhat does the president of a country do when he is asked to break the law? He responds firmly and comes down on the side of the law knowing that political leaders are always more concerned about gaining partisan advantage than respecting the laws they were elected to uphold. The Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago has sent a letter to the President of the Republic demanding that he revokes the appointments of the non-executive directors of the Central Bank before their respective terms expire.
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Indian Time Ah Come

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 23, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeA foolish person opined that I was catering (they used the word “kissing up”) to Sat and Kamla because I dedicate Indian Time Ah Come, my most recent book, to Sat, Kamla and the East Indian struggle for justice. He even seemed perturbed that I asked Sat to offer the feature address at the launching of the book and more aggrieved that Sat agreed to do so.
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Setting a Proper Example

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 16, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI did not vote for the People’s National Movement (PNM) during the last national election. Like so many, I became so disenchanted with the positions and attitudes of the former Prime Minister that I could not, in good faith, support the party which I always supported and of which I am a member. I did not vote for the People’s Partnership (PP) either. Theirs was merely a throwing together of disparate elements whose only objective was to remove the PNM. They had no plans for the country, except for a provision of computers for our students and a promised old-age pension of $3,000 which they repudiated the first day they walked into office. They informed an eager population that it really was not a promise: it was a misprint.
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The Corrupting Influence of the People’s Partnership

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 11, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI did not know Fazeer Mohamed well. He interviewed me on First Up once and did a good job although he was rude to me before the programme began. I chalked that up to the incivility that some of our public and private officials/servants indulge in most of the time. It simply goes with the territory. However such incivility cannot take anything away from the frightening implications of Mr. Mohammed’s firing that took place last Saturday in spite of the inelegant excuse that it was a part of a cost-cutting exercise.
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Profiles in Courage & Love

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 03, 2010

ViolenceOne will never know what transpired between Sarbrina Lall-Mitchell and her murderer. Sometimes love relations go awry with devastating consequences. No one has ever explained fully why feelings that seem to so wonderfully new when love first dawns turns so completely into its opposite when loves dies and the deadly serpent of jealousy entangles the human breast.
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Making UTT a National University

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 27, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am sure that Sat Maharaj’s would say that ah follow fashion. However, the truth is that his recent discussion of UTT, its academic standards and it place in the society reminded me of questions I raised two years ago when Ghana’s former President John Kufoor visited Trinidad and I made an address in his presence. Just for the record, my speech can be found on trinicenter.com on August 6 2008. My interest in this matter goes back a long way. This contribution only adds to Sat’s concerns. At least, there are some things on which we agree.
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Leveraging Incompetence

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 14, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am sure that People’s Partnership took a long time to select the three hundred persons they elected to the various state enterprises, statutory bodies, regional health authorities and key ambassadorial positions. In making her selection, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar enunciated two broad principles: a determination to make the correct choices and no one could sit on more than one board.
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Human Guinea Pigs

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 06, 2010

Scientist injecting patient in Tuskegee Syphilis StudyIt was a stunning announcement. The news reverberated around the world: United States researcher Government guilty of intentionally injecting hundreds of Guatemalans, including institutionalized mental patients, with gonorrhea and syphilis without their knowledge or permission. From 1946 to 1948, Dr. John Cutler and his colleagues conducted their studies with the blessings of the United States Health authorities and the Guatemalan government.
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Jack Warner: H.N.I.C.

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 29, 2010

Jack WarnerIt was one of those incomprehensible statements: “I am the Head N…. In Charge.” That was Jack Warner’s major contribution to the recent Budget Debate. If we use Jack’s logic in a society such as ours, the following corollary suggests itself: if there is a “Head N…In Charge” there must be a “Head C…. In Charge.” It is a philosophical proposition of which this is the logical conclusion.
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