David Arthur Granger
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David Arthur Granger (born 15 July 1945) is a Guyanese former politician and retired military officer who served as the ninth
president of Guyana The president of Guyana is the head of state and the head of government of Guyana, as well as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Republic, according to the Constitution of Guyana. The president is also the chancellor of the Orde ...
from 2015 to 2020. A member of the People’s National Congress (PNC), he previously served as Commander of the
Guyana Defence Force The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is the military of Guyana, established in 1965. It has military bases across the nation. The Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Force is always the incumbent President of Guyana. The branches include the Army, Air F ...
and as National Security Adviser from 1990 to 1992. He was
leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
in the
National Assembly of Guyana The National Assembly is one of the two components of the Parliament of Guyana. Under Article 51 of the Constitution of Guyana, the Parliament of Guyana consists of the President of Guyana, president and the National Assembly. The National Ass ...
from 2012 to 2015. Granger stood as the opposition coalition's presidential candidate in the November 2011 general election but was defeated. He was elected as President in the May 2015 general election. He lost a vote of confidence on 21 December 2018 that led to a
snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...
.


Career

Born in Georgetown, David Arthur Granger became a senior officer of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) by Prime Minister Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. He attended Queen's College, one of Guyana's most prestigious schools, along the likes of Presidents
Forbes Burnham Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham (20 February 1923 – 6 August 1985) was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He served as Prime Minister of Guyana, Premier of British Guia ...
,
Cheddi Jagan Cheddi Berret Jagan ( ; 22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964. He later served as President of Guyana from 19 ...
, Samuel Hinds and scholars
Walter Rodney Walter Anthony Rodney (23 March 1942 – 13 June 1980) was a Guyanese historian, political activist and academic. His notable works include '' How Europe Underdeveloped Africa'', first published in 1972. He was assassinated in Georgetown, ...
and
Rupert Roopnaraine Rupert Roopnaraine (born 31 January 1943) is a Guyanese cricketer, writer, and politician. Roopnaraine served as Minister of Education of Guyana between 2015 and 2017. Biography Roopnaraine was born in Kitty, Georgetown, Guyana. In 1954, he ...
. After leaving Queen's College, where he was a member of the Queen's College Cadet Corps, Granger joined the
Guyana Defence Force The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is the military of Guyana, established in 1965. It has military bases across the nation. The Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Force is always the incumbent President of Guyana. The branches include the Army, Air F ...
as an officer cadet in 1965 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1966. He received his professional military training at the Army Command and Staff College in
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
; the Jungle Warfare Instruction Centre in
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
; and the School of Infantry and the
Mons Officer Cadet School Mons Officer Cadet School was a British military training establishment for officer cadets in Aldershot from 1942 to 1972, when it was closed and all officer training concentrated at Sandhurst. The training course at Mons was for National Servic ...
, respectively, in the UK. He became commander of the
Guyana Defence Force The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is the military of Guyana, established in 1965. It has military bases across the nation. The Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Force is always the incumbent President of Guyana. The branches include the Army, Air F ...
in 1979 and was promoted to the rank of brigadier. In 1990, Granger was appointed as National Security Adviser to the President and retired from the military service in 1992. Granger founded the ''Guyana Review'' news magazine in 1992 and served as its Managing Editor. He has researched and published essays on military, historical and media themes, and is also the author of ''Guyana's State Media: the quest for control'', and ''A Preliminary Study of Women Soldiers in the Anglophone Caribbean''. For the 1995–1996 academic year he was a Hubert H. Humphrey/Fulbright Fellow at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2010, he made a successful bid to be elected as the presidential candidate of the People's National Congress–Reform for the November 2011 general election. Standing as the opposition coalition's presidential candidate, Granger was defeated by
Donald Ramotar Donald Rabindranauth Ramotar (born 22 October 1950) is a Guyanese politician who was President of Guyana from 2011 to 2015. He was also the General Secretary of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) from 1997 to 2013. Political career Ramotar j ...
. He was unanimously elected as
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
in the National Assembly on 16 January 2012. Granger stood again as the presidential candidate of the opposition coalition, APNUAFC, in the 11 May 2015 general election. The coalition secured the majority of votes, and Granger was sworn in as President of Guyana on 16 May 2015. He lost a vote of no confidence on 21 December 2018, leading to a
snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...
.


2020 Elections

After losing the vote of No Confidence in December 2018, elections were held on 2 March 2020. The elections were overseen by many international entities such as the
Organisation of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
,
Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidential ele ...
, CARICOM and
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. Initially, Granger and his party tried to claim victory on manipulated numbers. He later tried to claim the elections were tainted by fraud and should be cancelled. Ultimately, a national recount of votes on the indicated a win for the opposing People's Progressive Party presidential candidate
Irfaan Ali Mohamed Irfaan Ali (born 25 April 1980) is a Guyanese people, Guyanese politician serving as the tenth and current president of Guyana since 2020. A member of the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), he previously served as the minister of ...
.


Education

Granger attended the prestigious institution of Queen's College. He did some workshops from time and he was covered by the Army. He attended the Urban Policy Development Workshop at the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
; the Defense Planning and Resource Management course at the
National Defense University National Defence (or Defense) University (or College) may refer to: :''Alphabetical by country'' University * Marshal Fahim National Defense University, Afghanistan * National Defense University (Azerbaijan) * People's Liberation Army National Defe ...
, Washington DC; and the Counter-Terrorism Educators' Workshop at the
Joint Special Operations University The Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) is the designated agency within USSOCOM The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations ...
(Florida, USA).


Commander

Granger was Commander of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and National Security Adviser to President Hoyte. He received his military training at the Mons Officer Cadet School, and the School of Infantry in the United Kingdom; the Jungle Warfare Instruction Centre in Brazil, and the Army Command and Staff College in Nigeria. He was a member of several defence and security agencies. He held the chairmanship of the Central Intelligence Committee; co-chairmanship of the Border and National Security Committee; and was a member of the Guyana Defence Board, National Drug Law Enforcement Committee, and the Disciplined Forces Commission. Granger has served in several public organisations.


Academic/Historian

He was elected to the presidencies of the History Society, the Guyana Heritage Society, the University of Guyana Guild of Graduates; and the Guyana Chess Federation. He was also a member of the University of Guyana Council, Association of Caribbean Historians, Caribbean Studies Association, Guyana Press Association, Guyana Book Foundation, and is currently a member of the Guyana Legion and the Board of Trustees of the Guyana Veterans Foundation.


Author

Granger has written extensively on national defence and public security issues. He is the author of ''National Defence: A Brief History of the Guyana Defence Force, 1965 – 2005''; ''Public Security: Criminal Violence and Policing in Guyana''; and ''Public Policy: The Crisis of Governance in Guyana''. He wrote several monographs, including ''Five Thousand Day War: The Struggle for Haiti's Independence, 1789–1804''; ''The British Guiana Volunteer Force, 1948–1966''; ''The Guyana National Service, 1974–2000''; ''The Guyana People's Militia, 1976–1997''; ''The Queen's College Cadet Corps, 1889–1975''; ''Guyana's Coinage, 1808–2008''; ''The Era of Enslavement, 1638–1838''; and ''The Village Movement, 1839–1889''. He was co-editor, with Winston McGowan and James Rose, of ''Themes in African–Guyanese History'', and was publisher of the ''Guyana Review'' and ''Emancipation'' magazines.


Awards

Granger has received various academic awards, including the President's Medal for the best graduating student; Dennis Irvine Prize for the student who has made the greatest contribution to all cultural life of the university; Council of the University Prize; Elsa Goveia Medal of Excellence; Guy de Weever History Prize; Earl Attlee History Prize; Mary Noel Menezes Award for History; Department of History Prize and others, from the University of Guyana. He also holds three national awards: the Military Efficiency Medal (1976), the
Military Service Medal The Military Service Medal is a military medal awarded to members of the Military of Austria. It is awarded in three classes: gold, silver, and bronze depending on length of recognized service. Established in 1963, the medal was originally called ...
(1981), and the Military Service Star (1985) for distinguished military service.


Personal life

Granger is married to Sandra Granger (née Chan-A-Sue) and has two daughters, Han and Afuwa. In November 2018, Granger was diagnosed with
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredn ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Granger, David A. 1945 births Guyanese people of African descent Graduates of the Mons Officer Cadet School Guyanese writers Guyanese military personnel Living people Members of the National Assembly (Guyana) People from Georgetown, Guyana People's National Congress Reform politicians Presidents of Guyana