AFC rocked by allegations of sexism, racism, homophobia as 2 youth members resign

– tell party leaders “Better Must Come”

Two top youth leaders have broken ranks from the Alliance For Change (AFC) amidst allegations of sexism, racism and homophobia within the Nigel Hughes-led party. Vice President (VP) for the Youth for Change (YFC) – AFC’s youth arm – Onix Duncan, who also served as Chairman of the East Coast Demerara (ECD) Regional Management Committee, tendered his resignation from the party on Sunday.

One day prior, Advisor to Youth for Change, Dillon Mohamed, who previously served as President of the party’s youth arm, resigned from the positions of PR Director of the YFC and Executive of the East Bank Regional Management Committee. Duncan, in his resignation letter, explained that his decision follows a period of deep reflection and growing discontent with the AFC’s current trajectory.
“The leadership has failed to create a space of genuine inclusion and internal engagement, particularly following the creation of a faction/group called the “Better Must Come”, this failure is an opportunity squandered for broader unity and reform,” he stated. Moreover, the former youth leader also cited the AFC’s “continued tolerance of disrespectful and homophobic behaviour towards members” that has been tolerated from the inception of the current leadership.
Duncan added that his continued calls for a Disciplinary Action Committee to be set up have been ignored and with a leadership style that invites indecision and disorder by allowing everyone to speak while no one leads, has further eroded the party’s credibility and effectiveness.

“These are not the principles I joined to uphold. I remain committed to a political culture rooted in accountability, discipline and justice, values the AFC once championed but now struggles to embody. I wish the remaining members well as they chart the course ahead. Better Must Come,” Duncan’s resignation letter detailed.
Meanwhile, similar sentiments were expressed by Mohamed, who served as Guyana’s first openly LGBTQ youth politician through AFC – something which he says came with many challenges.
He cited “great uproar of homophobic sentiments that were vile in nature from some members” within the AFC, after he became one of two leaders of Guyana’s only LGBTQ-affirming church back in December 2019. He noted that there was gradual understanding and tolerance growing within the YFC.
Mohamed went onto cite years of frustration over the AFC’s blatant side-lining of its youth activists especially during the period when it was elected into office in coalition with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
“In 2016, the youths of the party experienced one of the greatest travesties in the history of the YFC. Some of our leaders who were Ministers in Government turned their backs on the youth who worked tirelessly to get the coalition into Government, and shut the door of opportunities on them,” he recalled.
According to the former YFC President, following the 2020 defeat at the polls, there were talks of the AFC severing ties with its coalition partner but most members felt that coalescing again was the right thing to do to.
Mohamed said many members, especially the youth arm were hurt by the Hughes-led AFC leadership’s decision to not coalesce, leaving lots of them to question the motive of the party. He went on to describe the party’s shift to anti-coalition as self-serving.
“The party has now evolved into a hijacked, creeping anti-coalition dictatorship, and as such is losing much support. This conundrum is of no good to the people of Guyana, and is certainly not something I wish to be a part of…”
“I want it to be clear that my support for the leader Mr Nigel Hughes was largely based on his progressive policies on law, infrastructure, human rights and social development. However, most of the persons verbally attacking pro-coalition members on our chat forums constantly resort to racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic, an occurrence that stands in stark contrast to what the leaders say they stand for and that received no reprimand from any of the leaders, despite complaints being penned to the leadership,” Mohamed posited.
Mohamed and Duncan’s breakaway from the ranks of the party comes amidst mass exodus from both the AFC and the People’s National Congress (PNC)-led APNU. The two former coalition partners, which have both decided to contest the 2025 General and Regional Elections on September 1 solo, have been bleeding members – most of whom have joined the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
The AFC was recently hit by a major political blow when two of its current Members of Parliament (MP) agreed to be on APNU’s slate for the upcoming polls. In fact, APNU has named AFC’s Juretha Fernandes, as its Prime Ministerial Candidate to run alongside leader Aubrey Norton as the Presidential Candidate – a deal that blindsided the AFC and formally severed coalition negotiations bet.
Since then, the two parties have submitted their respective symbols to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), signalling their intention to contest the upcoming polls independent.