For most of the thirty-seven years since Independence, Guyanese have been struggling to realise the hopes engendered in their hearts when at midnight on May 26, 1966 the Golden Arrowhead fluttered in the breeze for the first time while the strains of "Dear Land of Guyana" rang out.

At the dawn of each New Year since then we all collectively will ourselves to look forward with hope to the next twelve months. But year after year we who either choose to remain or cannot leave because we have neither the wherewithal nor opportunity continue to delude ourselves.

The revelations of the past few weeks of death squads and the reported involvement of government officials in their activities must be a clarion call for action before anarchy engulfs the land that we love.

We must demand an impartial enquiry into the allegations being made. They are too serious to be brushed aside. Every effort must be made to test the accuracy of the information in a transparent and fair manner, and in strict compliance with the constitutional safeguards to which each Guyanese is entitled.

We must demand of our leaders good faith compliance with the decisions they made in the constructive engagement process and put in place mechanism(s) to monitor their implementation. We must not be deflected from our purpose.

The politicians must realise that if their decisions had enabled us to go about our daily lives secure in the knowledge that if we work diligently and hard we can put a roof over the heads of our families, are assured that our children can access the best educational opportunities available whatever our income and station in society, put food on the table, have access to a reasonable level of health care, and can live in peace with our neighbours whatever the colour of their skin, politics or religion, we would not be on their case now.

Guyana belongs to the people of Guyana and we must work together to develop it. We all have a stake in this country, whatever the continents from which our foreparents came whether voluntarily or forcibly.

As a people we must put our shoulders to the wheel and work together. We have a duty to rid ourselves of those who stand in the way of our development, as individuals and as a people.