Derrick John re-elected chairman of National Toshaos Council

Mr Derrick John was on Monday afternoon re-elected as the Chairman of the National Toshaos Council (NTC).

Mr John is the Toshao of the Region Five village of Moraikobai and will serve his second 3-year tenure.

The election of the executive of the NTC took place on the first of the five-day National Toshaos Conference.

The Amerindian Act No. 6 of 2006, which is the principal legislation that governs the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana established the National Toshaos Council (NTC).

It is a body corporate comprising all Toshaos. Under the umbrella of the NTC, a 20-person Executive Committee is elected, and this body is made up of representatives of the 10 Administration regions of Guyana.

These executive members then select a Core Committee comprising of the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and other office bearers.

The Toshaos and the NTC Executive Members are elected for a three-year term and members are also eligible to contest a second term.

The NTC is mandated to represent Guyana’s Indigenous peoples and to plan and develop policies, programmes and projects aimed at sustainable development, general welfare improvement and the promotion of the rights of the Indigenous peoples, which include their human rights, land rights, preservation and promotion of their languages and culture, strategic planning, mitigation of Climate Change, protection, conservation and management of forest and natural resources, villages governance and other social and economic projects.