Ramkarran, Jonas quit ANUG after party secretly signed coalition deal with US-sanctioned businessman

Co-founders of A New and United Guyana (ANUG), Ralph Ramkarran, S.C., and Timothy Jonas, S.C., have resigned after it was announced that the party signed a coalition agreement with, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) – a new party founded by United States (US)-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed.

On Sunday, hours after the news broke of the coalescing deal between the two small parties, Senior Counsel Ramkarran shared via Facebook a message that he sent to the current ANUG leader, Dr Mark France, informing him of his resignation.
“Good Morning Mark. As you know I have not been active in ANUG for about five years now and I have paid no membership dues. I am therefore unclear of my status. In the event that I still remain on the books as a member, I hereby formally tender my resignation,” Ramkarran indicated to the party leader.
It was reported on Sunday that Ramkarran had advised France against coalescing with WIN. He explained that his resignation came because he did not want to be seen as supporting the coalition deal with WIN – something which he does not want to be associated with.
Shortly after, Senior Counsel Jonas, who previously served as ANUG’s Chairman, also indicated via a Facebook post that he, too, has resigned from the party.
“This serves to inform that today I resigned as a member of A New and United Guyana,” Jonas stated in the social media post.

It is unclear whether any of other founding members who were there at the formation of ANUG are still members of the party at this stage.
Among the key individuals at the party’s launch in January 2019, apart from Ramkarran and Jonas, were Beni Sankar and Akanni Blair – both of whom have long resigned from ANUG. In fact, Blair has since returned to the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
The status of two other founding members, Kian Jabour and Henry Jeffrey, within ANUG is unknown, though they were not listed on the party’s new Executive body following its election earlier this year.
Based on a Facebook post in March 2025, ANUG revealed its Executive Body, which will serve until 2026. In addition to France as Chairman, Jonathan Subrian was named General Secretary, Joel Ramesh Assistant Secretary, Stephen Patterson Finance Secretary (Treasurer), and Javeed Ally as Organising Secretary.

Additionally, 10 Committee Members were also listed, namely: Mary Ann Correia, Laura Singh, Maria Fraser, Niall Stanton, Kurt Anderson, Javis Charles, Mohamed Esau Shaheed, Akeem McDonald, Dexter George, and Arron Austin.

Secret signing deal
Nevertheless, Ramkarran and Jonas’ resignation from the party comes after what is being called a secret signing ceremony on Saturday between ANUG’s France and WIN’s Mohamed to coalesce. A missive to this effect was sent out in the wee hours of Sunday, stating that ANUG will be “under the WIN banner” to contest the upcoming General and Regional Election on September 1, 2025.
In fact, there has been criticism of these parties failing to talk about their policies and plans for Guyana – something which they avoid being questioned on by having a secret signing ceremony, which was held at WIN’s Headquarters on Lombard Street. However, in a Facebook post on Sunday, France said, “Now, those who want to see a manifesto with policies reaching the people, for the people and by the people will understand why I’ve kept my cards close to my chest.”
On the other hand, WIN’s Leader is being called out over this deal, which is being referred to by the parties as a collaboration and not a coalition, for back-pedalling on his previous position that he would not be coalescing with any other parties.

WIN founder
WIN’s founder, Mohamed, is currently facing sanctions from the US over gold smuggling and public corruption allegations.
Back in June 2024, the US had sanctioned Guyanese businessmen Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed, along with their businesses: Mohamed’s Enterprise; its subsidiary, Hadi’s World; and Team Mohamed’s Racing Team, over gold smuggling and public corruption allegations.
According to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Mohamed’s Enterprise smuggled some 10,000 kilogrammes (kg) of gold out of Guyana between 2019 and 2023, thus avoiding paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes. Shortly after the sanctions, Guyana had requested the relevant information and documentation from the US Government to conduct its own investigations.
In March of this year, local law enforcement agencies, including the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), received a ‘sufficient volume’ of evidence to take action against the businessmen.
Those investigations are ongoing.