Misconduct charge: Jagdeo slams PNC’s ‘malicious’ claims, says APNU/AFC’s land deal was blatantly illegal

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday weighed in on the misconduct court case involving former Finance Minister Winston Jordan and the alleged “illegal” transfer of land worth millions of dollars shortly before the March 2020 general elections.
During his weekly press conference, Jagdeo strongly pushed back against claims by the opposition People’s National Congress (PNC) that the charge is “malicious,” pointing instead to what he described as clear evidence of illegality.
He explained that the agreement signed by the APNU/AFC administration stipulated that the land was to be sold for $150 million, and the purchaser was expected to make a 10 percent deposit. However, only $2.4 million was paid, but Jordan nonetheless signed the vesting order handing over the land to the private company.
“What actually took place… there was an agreement signed by APNU to sell the land at $150 million. The agreement says you have to make a deposit of 10%, so that’s $15 million… Jordan then signed a vesting order transferring the property to the company and they only paid $2.4 million. Now you can only vest a property or to give transport or title upon the full payment, not the 10% deposit, that’s a law, but the full payment of $150 million. He did not even collect the $15 million for the deposit. He transferred the land through a vesting order to the ownership of the company. Now they own the land. That is illegal. So that was the issue. It had nothing to do with valuation,” Jagdeo said.
The Vice President’s criticism came on the heels of Jordan being once again slapped charges for misconduct in public office.
The charge, brought by the Guyana Police Force’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), alleges that Jordan signed Vesting Order #69 of 2020, transferring the land at Plantation Goedverwagting and Sparendaam to a private company for just $2.4 million, despite the property’s estimated market value of $150 million. The transfer occurred during a politically sensitive period—between February 25 and June 11, 2020—when the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) government was operating in a caretaker capacity following the December 2019 no-confidence motion.
The Vice President also used the opportunity to revisit previous allegations of land mismanagement under the former administration, accusing them of engaging in a broader pattern of misconduct during their final months in office.
“There are several others … where this happened…. Now you think if you transfer the government ownership, then the person owns the land. They have the title for the land now and you know title confers some certain rights. So that is what he did here. And so, it wasn’t malicious. In fact, he did this. This was the order of the day. I can go back and point it out. All the illegal things they did with land, but they don’t want us to talk about that now,” he explained.
Jordan, who appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on Monday, was not required to enter a plea, given that the charge is indictable.
He was represented by attorneys Roysdale Forde and Dawn Holder-Cush, who argued that Jordan poses no flight risk and has consistently complied with court procedures in previous legal matters. They also referenced a previous similar charge that was dismissed, suggesting the current charge may be politically motivated.
The court granted Jordan $150,000 bail, and the matter was adjourned to April 23.