Clement James Rohee, a serving politician within the governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP), has written and published two books or autobiographies as some may call it, detailing his family life, his political career and stints as a government minister.
Those books – ‘My Story, My Song’ and ‘104 Times’ are already available for purchase on the online platform of Barnes and Noble, Amazon and Amazon Kindle with limited physical copies available for sale in Guyana.
At an official book launch on Friday held the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, Rohee said the books are currently on show at an ongoing Hong Kong Book Fair and will be available at the Beijing Book Fair in August.
Now in his 70s, Rohee spent his entire adult life in politics, serving in several distinguished positions at the party and government levels.
In the book ‘My Story, My Song’ – the title inspired by the popular hymn Blessed Assurance – Rohee talks about his roots linked to indentured labourers brought to Guyana from India.
He writes about his introduction to politics at the age of 18 and several key encounters during his struggle for democracy and freedom. Already the book has received the endorsement of other distinguished Guyanese academics and politicians.
Head of the Department of Language and Cultural Studies at the University of Guyana, Al Creighton believes the books are important in presenting firsthand information of key periods in Guyana’s history.
He said it also seeks to encourage reading, something he said is almost non-existent here. The book also received the nod from former President, Donald Ramotar who served alongside Rohee at the party level.
“Many distinguished people in Guyana who had tremendous amounts of knowledge and information and experience have left and took it all without sharing as much as necessary… people are now engaged and involved in service with no recollections on the insights,” Ramotar told the gathering on Friday.
Meanwhile, Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran has also recommended the books for reading, pointing out that it is the first autobiography published in Guyana since Cheddi Jagan’s ‘The West on Trial.’
“The book is highly recommended… all of us must write our experiences for the people of Guyana, for the history of Guyana, for the PPP… Clement has done the country a great service,” Ramkarran said at the book launch.
Rohee once served within the leadership of the PPP for several years after studying political science in Moscow. He served at the Guyana Elections Commission, a Member of Parliament, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs and as CARICOM’s representative at the World Trade Organisation.
From those experiences, he has also published his speeches, letters and articles in several other books.
I bought the Kindle version of My Story My Song this morning for US$5.99. I didn’t start it as yet.
This better be good, Mr Rohee. ????