GINA | GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AGENCY

President Arthur Chung (First President of the Republic of Guyana)

Arthur Chung attended Windsor Forest and Blankenburg Primary Schools before he went to Mr J. I. Ramphal's (the Attorney General's father) Modern High School. In 1938, Mr Chung graduated from Modern High School and joined the staff of the Lands and Mines Department as an apprentice surveyor.

In 1940 he qualified as Sworn Land Surveyor, after which he joined the staff of the Public Works Department where he stayed for six months. He was then recalled by the Lands and Mines Department to work as an Assistant Hydrographic surveyor with the Demerara River Navigation Development Project which was at the time involved in dredging the Demerara River. In May, 1945, he left British Guiana after the Second World War to enter the Middle Temple of London.

In 1947 he qualified as a barrister He then worked as Assistant Legal examiner with the British Civil Service, later joining the chambers of British lawyer Maurice Shear. In October, 1948 Arthur Chung returned to British Guiana when he joined the local bar and practised as a lawyer.

In 1953 Arthur Chung he was appointed acting magistrate to serve in the West Demerara and Essequibo Judicial Districts. In 1954 his appointment was confirmed and he now had to serve in the Georgetown and Berbice Judicial districts. In 1954 Mr Chung got married to Miss Doreen Pamela Auan also from Windsor Forest. In 1961, Mr Chung left the Magistrate's Court and went to work as Registrar at the Supreme Court. In 1962 Arthur Chung was called to act as a judge in the Supreme Court.

In 1963 Arthur Chung position as a jugde was confirmed. He once created history when he broke a 78-year-old practice by ruling that the Director of Public Prosecutions had no jurisdiction to compel a magistrate to convict a person.

He was also involved in a case when he ruled in favour of the Attorney General against Mrs Cecile Nobrega, but the Full Court of Appeal reversed the decision when it was taken there by Mrs Nobrega. The Attorney General finally took the case to the Privy Council which upheld Mr Chung's original decision.
His last case was the Rupununi murder trial which arose from the attempted secession in January, 1969. In this case, three of the accused persons were ordered to stand trial for murder, while seven others were set free.
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Burnham -Linden Forbes Sampson (1923-1985) (First Executive President of the Republic of Guyana: (Oct 6, 1980 - Aug 6, 1985)

Burnham was born in Kitty, on February 20, 1923. He was the son of James Ethelbert and Rachel Abigail (nee Sampson) Burnham.
Burnham received his primary education at the Kitty Methodist School before moving on to Central High School and then to Queen’s College in 1935.

In 1954 he won the Centenary Exhibition and a Government Junior Scholarship. In 1955 he was awarded the Percival Exhibition. In 1942, Burnham received the highest scholastic award in the country at that time, the British Guiana Scholarship. This annual award was reserved for the scholar attaining the highest grades at the Senior Cambridge Examinations held locally.

In 1944, Burnham earned the Bachelor of Arts Degree at External Examinations of the University of London. In 1947, he received his Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) degree at the University of London. In 1948 he was admitted to the bar of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, London.

An extemporary scholar, Burnham was noted for his oratory skills. In 1947 Burnham was elected President of the West Indian Students Union in London, a position which allowed him to participate as a delegate of the Union in the International Union of Students’ Congress in Prague (1947) and Paris (1948)

In 1951 he married Sheila Bernice Lataste. They had three daughters: Roxanne, Annabelle, and Francesca. In 1957 he married Viola Victorine Harper together they had two daughters, Melanie and Ulele.Burnham returned to British Guiana (Guyana) and in 1949, along with Dr. Cheddi Jagan they founded the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). Burnham was Chairman of the Party.

In 1952 Burnham was elected to the Georgetown Town Council. In 1959 he became Mayor of Georgetown, and again in 1964. In 1959, Burnham was elected President of the Bar Association of Guyana. In 1963 and in 1965 he was elected President of the Guyana Labour Union. In 1953 when the PPP Government came to power, Burnham was appointed Minister of Education.

In 1957 Burnham founded his own political Party – the People’s National Congress. This followed the suspension of the British Guiana Constitution by the British Government, and the rift in the PPP. In 1964 the PNC became the major party in a coalition Government with the United Force and Burnham became Premier of British Guiana.

May 26, 1966, Burnham led the country to independence and was the first Prime Minister of Guyana. Guyana became a Republic in 1970. On October 6, 1980 Burnham became Guyana’s first Executive President, a position he held until his death. Burnham hobbies included cricket, chess and horseback riding.
On August 6, 1985 Burnham died at the Georgetown Hospital in Guyana after a throat operation.
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Hoyte - Hugh Desmond (March 1929--October 2002)Executive President of the Republic of Guyana
(President: Aug 6, 1985 - Oct 9, 1992)

Hoyte was born in Georgetown in March 1929. He received the B.A. and LL.B. degrees from the University of London. Hoyte was a Barrister-at-Law of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple and a Member of the Guyana Bar.

In 1969 Hoyte was appointed to the Queen’s Council. In 1970 Guyana became a Republic and this designation was changed to Senior Counsel. Between 1969 and 1984, Hoyte held many Ministerial posts under the PNV Government, including those of Home Affairs, Finance, Works and Communications, and Economic Development.

In 1984 he became First Vice President and Prime Minister, and subsequently Executive. President on the death of L.F. S. Burnham. From August 1985 – October 1992 Hoyte served as President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. As a Minister of Government, Hoyte had at various times responsibility for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) affairs under the Lome Convention and from 1981 to 1983 he was the ACP spokesman on sugar.

His portfolio included, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Affairs where he was charged with the responsibility for promoting freedom of movement within the Community and for coordinating CARICOM's policy on the environment for the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 and generally. He was also nominated CARICOM’s spokesman on sugar.

In his ministerial capacity, Mr. Hoyte served as Guyana’s Governor on the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank.Hoyte headed delegations to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Caribbean Committee for Development and Cooperation, the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, ACP/EEC Meetings and other Regional and international conferences on economic, financial and developmental issues.

He was Guyana’s chief representative at the deliberations that led to the establishment of the Latin American Economic System (SELA) and was a member of the Latin American Council from 1975 to 1983. Prior to his full-time service as a Government Minister, Hoyte held many public offices including that of Chairman of the Legal Practitioners’ Committee, Chairman of the Timber Grants Wages Council; Chairman of the Customs Tariff Appeals Tribunal; and a member of the Elections Commission. He served as the Legal Adviser to the Trades Union Congress and several member unions.

Mr. Hoyte had a keen interest in ecological and environmental matters. He worked closely with the London-based Commonwealth Human Ecology Council and wrote and spoke on these issues, both locally and internationally.

Hoyte was the architect of the Iwokrama International Rainforest Project in Guyana, which he initiated at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1989. On December 22, 2002, Hugh Desmond Hoyte died. His body was laid to rest at the Place of the Seven Ponds in the Botanic Gardens.
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Jagan - Cheddi Bharat (March 1918 March 1997) (Executive President of the Republic of Guyana: Oct 9, 1992 - Mar 6, 1997)

Jagan was born on March 22, 1918 on the sugar plantation of Port Mourant, Berbice. His father was a foreman of a work crew on the plantation. His grandparents had come from India as indentured labourers.

After primary school and two years of secondary school, his father sent him to Queen’s College in the city of Georgetown. He was then fifteen years old. In September 1935, Cheddi left for the United States where he did pre-dental studies at Howard University. He was able to earn a scholarship to pay for his second year at Howard.

In 1938, he entered Northwestern University and embarked on a four-year dental program graduating in 1942. While studying dentistry he was also doing courses in social studies. He graduated in 1942, with a degree in dental surgery (DDS) and a Bachelor of Sciences degree (B.Sc).

On August 5, 1943 he married a student nurse, Janet Rosenberg before returning home in October that year. Cheddi set up his dental practice with the help of his wife, as dental assistant, his brother, as laboratory assistant, and a cousin. He also spent a great deal of time with the workers and was soon established as a labour leader.

In 1947 Dr. Jagan formally entered the political arena with his election to the National Assembly. In 1950, three years later, he created the People's Progressive Party (PPP). In 1953, the PPP won the first elections held under Universal Adult Suffrage. However, Britain suspended the Constitution, citing the PPP's pro-communist ideology. The British sent troops and warships to deal with any resistance they might encounter but there was only peaceful demonstrations. Dr. Jagan was imprisoned for six months for not obeying an order limiting his movements.

In 1955 Dr. Jagan was re-elected leader of the People's Progressive Party. Between 1953 and 1957, the PPP was split in two factions. Dr. Jagan continued to be leader of the PPP, while the new faction, named the People’s National Congress PNC), was led by Forbes Burnham.

The PPP won the 1957 and 1961 elections becoming the country’s first Premier, and formed the Government. In 1964 the PPP again won the election with a majority of the votes cast. However, the elections, was held under the system of Proportional Representation, the Government was formed by a Coalition comprising the PNC, led by Burnham and the United Force (UF), led by businessman, Peter D’Aguiar.

Dr. Jagan was leader of the Opposition until 1992, when the PPP won the elections that year. He became President and remained so until his death on March 6, 1997.
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Hinds - Samuel Archibald Anthony. well-known as Sam Hinds. (President: March 6, 1997 - Dec 19, 1997)

Hinds was Prime Minister of the Republic of Guyana when President Cheddi Jagan died on March 6, 1997. Hoyte automatically succeeded Jagan as President. As Prime Minister, Hinds had been the Deputy Leader of the PPP/Civic coalition. He was the head of the Civic Party before they joined with the PPP.

Elections were held in December 1997 with Mrs. Janet Jagan, who had been appointed Prime Minister, as the presidential candidate.
When the PPP/Civic won the election on December 19, 1997, Mrs. Jagan became the President and she then appointed Sam Hinds her Prime Minister.

President Janet Jagan became ill and, in 1999, decided to resign from the office of President. The intention was to have Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo succeed her. In order to do this, Sam Hinds resigned as Prime Minister on August 9, 1999 allowing President Jagan to appoint Mr. Jagdeo to that office. Mrs. Jagan then resigned from the office of President on August 11, 1999 and the now Prime Minister Jagdeo succeeded her as the Constitution required. On becoming President, Mr. Jagdeo appointed Sam Hinds Prime Minister once more.

Mr. Sam Hinds remains Prime Minister of Guyana (2002).Mr. Hinds, a chemical engineer who graduated in Canada, was General Superintendent of the Research and Development Division at Linmine.
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Jagan- Janet Rosenberg (President: Dec 19, 1997 - Aug 11, 1999)

Janet Jagan was born on October 20, 1920 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was educated at the University of Detroit, Wayne University, Michigan State College and Cook County School of Nursing.

She married Cheddi Jagan on August 5, 1943 and in December that year came to British Guiana. During her first 10 years in Guyana, she worked as a Dental Nurse in her husband's clinic. At the same time she became active in labour and political affairs.
In 1946, Janet Jagan founded the Women's Political and Economic Organisation (later called the W.P.O.). She co-founded the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) and edited the PAC Bulletin. Mrs. Jagan was the first editor of Thunder, the official organ of the PPP.

In 1950, she co-founded the People's Progressive Party (PPP), and was elected the party's General-Secretary, she held that post between 1950 - 1970. Janet Jagan held numerous positions of note. She was also the first woman elected to the Georgetown City Council. Following the suspension of the British Guiana Constitution and the removal from office of the PPP Government, she was jailed for six months.

In 1957, she won a seat in the Legislature, representing Essequibo and was appointed Minister of Labour, Health and Housing. Later she served as Minister of Home Affairs and a member of the Senate.She served as a member of the Opposition from 1964 until 1992, when the PPP won the election and Dr. Cheddi Jagan became the President.

After the death of Dr. Jagan on March 6, 1997, she served as Prime Minister of Guyana. In December 1997 Mrs. Jagan was sworn in as President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana after successfully leading the PPP/C to victory at the Polls.

Janet Jagan became the first female president of Guyana on December 19, 1997. She had been sworn in as Guyana's first female Prime Minister on March 17, 1997, following the death of her husband, President Cheddi Jagan. Mrs. Jagan resigned from the Presidency on August 11, 1999 because of ill health.
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