Guyana celebrates Independence on 26 May 2023
By Joy Osiagwu
The Republic of Guyana is the only English-speaking country situated between Venezuela and Suriname in South America. With a land mass of 214,970 sq km and a population of 795,400, Guyana is rich in bauxite, and timber. The capital city, Georgetown has maintained the British colonial architecture.
Guyana is also Anglophone Caribbean with strong ties to other Caribbean nations and is the headquarters of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The main languages spoken are English and Guyanese Creole.
The Dutch were the first Europeans who established colonies in the area in 1581. But the British took over in 1796. The country gained Independence from the British on 26 May 1966 and became a republic on 23 February 1970 under the leadership of Forbes Burnham. However, the Guyanese National Assembly elected Arthur Chung, a Chinese Guyanese as the first President of the nation on 17 March 1970 to 6 October 1980.
The discovery of crude oil in 2015 and the commencement of commercial drilling in 2019 brought so many transformations to the nation, one of which is a century-old controversy between Venezuela and the country over the control of offshore oil reserves.
Current Governance Structure
The governance structure of Guyana (semi-presidential system) consists of the President, Prime Minister, Vice Presidents, and Ministers who are appointed by the President of Guyana. Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali is the current and tenth president of Guyana. He assumed office in 2020 as the first Muslim president of the country. The former housing and Tourism minister in the People’s Progressive Party defeated the incumbent President David Granger of the National Congress to become the president.
Trending News
Miss World Guyana selected speaker at World Literacy Summit 2023
The current Miss World Guyana, Andrea King has been selected as one of the speakers for the 2023 World Literacy Summit at Oxford University in Oxford, United Kingdom. The event scheduled for 2nd April-4th brings together leaders from over 85 countries with a focus on advocating and educating the world on the value of scaling up literacy levels across the globe.
A graduate of Business Management Administration, Miss King who became Miss World Guyana 2022 has a Non-Governmental Organization, named Flo. The organization was created by the beauty pageant winner to bridge the financial education gap in Guyana under the theme “Learning Money Before Earning Money.”
The winner of the pageant represents Guyana with over 130 other nations at the annual Miss World finals. Miss World Guyana entrants and finalists support worthy causes and projects through donations and fundraising activities.
Guyana -Ottawa Connections
The Guyana Ottawa Cultural Association (GOCA) is a voluntary non-profit/non-partisan organization established in 1986 with a mandate to promote and share knowledge of the heritage, traditions, and culture of Canadians of Guyanese origin residing in the National Capital Region (NCR). It sponsors and conducts social, recreational, educational, and cultural activities for the enjoyment of members of the Association and the wider local Ottawa community.
It has a planned event for Mother’s Day 2023.
Visit the website to read the constitution of the Association and learn more about membership and other community events.
Address: Guyana Ottawa Cultural Association Email: [email protected] C/O: OCISO 959 Wellington Street West Ottawa ON K1Y 2X
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Joy Osiagwu is a Project Officer with Black History Ottawa. She has over two decades of experience as a broadcast journalist in Nigeria and North America. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom, plus a post-graduate diploma in Broadcast Performing Arts from the Columbia Academy, Vancouver, British Columbia.