Submitted by The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) has expressed sadness at the passing of famed Guyanese economist and ex-director of the World Bank, Clarence Ellis. Ellis died last Saturday at his home in Maryland, United States.

In a statement issued Monday, CGID President, Rickford Burke, remembered Ellis as “A true Guyanese patriot and hero who embodied academic brilliance, and an unshakable dedication to public service and country.”

He said Ellis was one of Guyana’s brilliant minds and foremost economists, whose lifetime of service to country, intellectual fortitude, strength of character, and fierce advocacy for the development of Guyana as a genuine multiethnic democracy, resting on the principles of equality and the rule of law, earned him eminence in Guyana’s pantheon of elder statesmen.

The Institute’s head observed that Ellis died a fighter against institutionalized tribalism and ethnocratic governance in Guyana, and posited that “He consummately applied his intellectual prowess and experiences towards conceptualization of solutions to the ethnic subjugation of African-Guyanese, racial inequality, tyranny, corruption and the insalubrious conflation of government and criminal enterprise in Guyana.

Burke said Ellis would be especially remembered as a contemporary visionary who consistently proposed academic blueprints as a modus for a new thinking and ideology upon which to build the foundations of a new Guyana; with a unique, homogeneous society and a system of government that is consistent with the country’s diversity and geopolitical interests.

He added that Ellis was indefatigably committed to an African-centered analytical framework, and fearlessly championed the causes and importance of African people, their culture and history.

The CGID President also said that to his death, Ellis remained a modern man. “As an octogenarian, his proficiency and use of the computer, internet and electronic communication, for research and communication, were arguably unmatched,” he observed.

He said that Ellis, who also served as a Governor of the Bank of Guyana, embodied excellence and was always an articulate, passionate spokesman for his theories and positions, as well as for the causes he believed in. Describing the late British trained economist as a mentor who readily imparted his vast array of knowledge to younger generations of Guyanese, Burke posited that “We are challenged to carry on his legacy.”

“His charming, engaging personality, authenticity, aptitude and dexterity and polite audaciousness will be surely missed. We mourn his passing and we celebrate his life of enormous accomplishments,” Burke stated.