Ramayya resigns again from AFC

− says party turns blind eye to corruption, still to repay him M

Executive Member of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Dr Veerasammy Ramayya has resigned again from the party, citing pervasive corruption to which the party has turned a blind eye, in addition to being owed $15 million, which he claims was spent on the 2011 election campaign and for which he has not been repaid.ramayya

He tendered his resignation on Tuesday with immediate effect, which was addressed to the AFC’s General Secretary David Patterson; Party Leader Khemraj Ramjattan; along with Executive Members Moses Nagamootoo, Raphael Trotman and Dominic Gaskin.

The former AFC Executive, in tendering his resignation said his contributions and investments in the party did not resonate deeply. He said too his contributions over the past six years to the party have instead benefited others, adding “I have no remorse in exiting the party.”

According to Dr Ramayya, the party has failed to deliver on its promises and pointed out that the party which politicised the issue of corruption in the 2015 campaign has instead turned a blind eye.

The party’s former Executive Member who had been credited with helping the AFC secure two parliamentary seats representing Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), has also lamented the fact that the party is yet to repay him $15 million.

According to Dr Ramayya, in the run-up to the 2011 election campaign, he sold a property and handed over the $15 million to the party to assist in funding its activities with a promise that he would be repaid.

Dr Ramayya said to date; he is still to be repaid his money.

This is the second time the AFC’s Executive Member has resigned from the party, citing internal differences. In August last year, he had tendered his resignation citing internal differences.

This time, he accused the coalition A Partnership for National Unity, AFC (APNU/AFC) of disrespecting him. He had told Guyana Times, “They offer me $180,000 to sit in an office in Georgetown and take complaints from people and report to Khemraj. I want to work for the people of Berbice and serve them,” the politician said, noting that all he wanted to do was to serve the people of Berbice but the coalition is not allowing him to do so.

“What I wanted to do is to be able to fix all of the sports grounds in Berbice and to clean up the hospital compounds, but I have to have the authority and power to be able to do so,” he asserted.

He was later appointed Regional Executive Officer, but has since resigned from that position as well.

At the time, Dr Ramayya had been openly critical for not being rewarded by the coalition Government saying, “I spent my money to organise meetings in Berbice during the campaign period. Now when I go to the office in Georgetown, the office is empty because all the boys get Minister jobs and big positions with some Ministry.”

Ramayya was the only party executive who did not vote in favour of the coalition when it was proposed and had voiced his disappointment to both Ramjattan and Nagamootoo because they had earlier claimed that they will never coalesce with APNU.