Eusi Kwayana: A Great Son of Guyana Returns to the Ancestors

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Eusi Kwayana: A Great Son of Guyana Returns to the Ancestors

SPECIAL FEATURE – October 2026

A tribute to a life of conscience, courage and service. We join the nation in celebrating the life, work and enduring legacy of our brother and friend, Eusi Kwayana.

There are some lives so deeply woven into the life of a nation that their passing leaves more than grief. It leaves a silence where a steady voice once stood—a voice that challenged, counselled, comforted and refused to surrender its convictions.

Eusi Kwayana was such a voice.

The Working People’s Alliance has announced the passing of the man generations knew as the Sage of Buxton, joining his family in mourning an elder, teacher, mentor and leader. At 101 years and six months, his long earthly journey has ended. Guyana must now reckon with the loss of one of its greatest sons: a man whose life helped shape its political awakening and whose example asked its people to consider not only what freedom promised, but whom it must serve.

His was a life of “conscience”

In its tribute, the WPA described Kwayana as a protector of the vulnerable and an advocate for the powerless. Those words reach beyond the offices he held and the organizations he helped build. They speak to the moral purpose of his public life: the conviction that people pushed to the margins still belonged at the center of the national concern.

A life woven into Guyana’s struggle

The story of Eusi Kwayana cannot be confined to one party, one period or one political allegiance.

As the WPA’s announcement recounts, he served in the original People’s Progressive Party, holding parliamentary and Cabinet responsibilities in the 1953 government. He also served as Assistant General Secretary of the PPP and later as General Secretary of the People’s National Congress, where he edited the party’s newspaper, New Nation.

In 1974, he helped found the Working People’s Alliance. He remained a member until his death, serving as an executive member, parliamentarian, organizer and guiding presence in its publications, Open Word and Dayclean.

Across that long journey, the distinction worth remembering is not simply the breadth of his political involvement. It is the independence the WPA itself honors in its farewell: his ability to remain loyal without abandoning his integrity or surrendering his judgment.

That is a demanding standard. It asks a person to belong without becoming captive, to work with others without allowing the organization to replace the conscience.For those who inherit his example, it is also an enduring challenge

Dignity, identity and service

Kwayana’s work extended beyond party politics.

The WPA’s account recalls his leadership in land settlement, agricultural marketing, cooperative insurance and cooperative banking initiatives. These responsibilities placed him within the practical work of building a country—work focused with how people might obtain opportunity, organize their resources and participate in national life.

His cultural commitments were equally significant. He co-founded the African Society for Racial Equality in 1961 and the African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa in 1964, advancing African Guyanese cultural consciousness, pride and dignity.

Born Sydney King, he took the name Eusi Kwayana, which the WPA renders as “Black Man of Guyana.”

In remembering that name, we remember the dignity of a person defining himself, affirming his ancestry and declaring his belonging. His African identity and his Guyanese identity were not competing claims. In the life being honored today, they formed part of the same commitment to human worth.

The empty chair

The WPA writes that his death leaves “an empty chair in the gallery of our Guyanese humanity.”

It is an image worthy of the moment.

“An empty chair reminds us that something irreplaceable has gone: the presence, the memory, the counsel that could be sought from someone who had lived through so much of the country’s unfinished story. Yet a memorial must do more than place flowers beside that chair.”

To honor Kwayana is to take seriously the qualities his comrades remember: service without surrender of principle; cultural pride rooted in dignity; solidarity with those who possess little power; and the courage to think independently.

No life, however long, can complete a nation’s work. Those who follow must decide what to carry forward.

We mourn with his family, his comrades, his students and all who found wisdom or encouragement in his presence. We also give thanks that Guyana had him for so long.

Farewell, Eusi Kwayana.

Farewell, Sage of Buxton.

You have returned to the ancestors. The country you served must now find the courage to live up to the best of what you taught.

We join the nation in celebrating the life, work and enduring legacy of our brother and friend, Eusi Kwayana.

“This tribute draws on the WPA’s announcement and account of Kwayana’s life supplied above.”