Ahead of the General and Regional Elections to be held in Guyana this year, Chairman of the National Toshaos Council, Toshao Derrick John has urged political parties to be responsible in their campaigning even as he made it clear that Indigenous people have the right to support any political party of their choice, as much as they have the right to administer their own affairs.

“Indigenous peoples have the right to choose whichever political party they want to support and we know, we are not living in stone age anymore. We know what is good for us and nobody should be able to come and tell us who we should and should not vote for, we have that ability to choose,” the NTC Chairman said.

The Toshao’s comments come as political parties and potential Presidential hopefuls are ramping up their campaigns in Indigenous communities.

He told the opening of the conference that Indigenous communities are experiencing changes and are benefitting from a number of resources.

He said while he was not campaigning, Indigenous leaders and villagers must make the right choice. But even so, he said politicians should not feel that they can dictate to Indigenous leaders what is best for them.

“No one don’t have to come and tell us what is best for us, we know what is good for us, we know of the challenges we face in our communities and we know how to put mechanisms in place to mitigate those challenges and so no one doesn’t have to twist our arms,” John told the opening of the conference.

John told the conference that he is dissatisfied at the manner in which Indigenous people are portrayed in some sections of the media.

He said many times when issues are raised, it would appear that Indigenous leaders do not have a voice of their own to raise their concerns, which is usually not the case.

Toshao John said the increase in grants and subventions that has been going to Indigenous communities has completely changed the outlook of many of those communities.

He ,however, urged village leaders to promote sustainability in their villages, saying that unsustainable projects can see village progress being stagnated instead of moving forward.

John warned his fellow Toshaos to always raise critical issues affecting their individual communities so that those matters can be addressed.

Further, the NTC Chairman also touched on the border controversy with Venezuela.

He said some Indigenous villages need reassurance on some of the issues regarding the controversy. However, he hailed the efforts of the government to address the controversy and urged the international community to continue to support Guyana in its case before the International Court of Justice.

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