Dear Editor,
The presumption is that the Granger Administration is looking towards the 2020 general elections with much financial panic because just about every avenue of financial cash flow is drying up, and the economy remains stagnant. This means that the businessmen whom the politicians usually rely upon would have less to give.
The folks in the Diaspora are publically annoyed with the performance of the coalition Government. And while all these realities are steering this Government in its face, the gods seem to be angrily against its officials, because every time they try siphoning some money through some illegal act, they are being caught with their hands in the financial cookie jar.
They tried with the Sussex Street bond and they got caught. They gained initial embarrassment and contrition, and promised to never do it again. They have since rescinded that crooked contract.
Of course there was the famous ‘BiShan Lin-gate’ scandal. It was noted that the reason for the trip to China was to trace and secure the US$500 million owed to the people of Guyana. Be it known that that trip is long over, two years have since passed, and the money is still unaccounted for.
The Guyanese people were appraised by the media of several other shenanigans and corrupt acts since this Government came into power a few years ago.
Now we have the ‘ExxonMobil-gate’. The Government was caught hiding the very first money that Guyana obtained from our oil. That cannot bode well for the future of oil in Guyana. Ol’ people does say, “Wha gon’ bad a morning can’t come good ah evening”. It is no doubt that the Government was nefarious in the act to keep that money secret from the Guyanese people. No matter how one spins that behaviour, it remains a mystery as to why the Granger Administration would hide over $4 billion from the Guyanese people. Even the auditors that the administration hired were not aware of that ExxonMobil money.
Let’s take their argument that they wanted to pay lawyers to defend Guyana against Venezuela’s claim to our territory. Why not publically declare the money but secretly pay the lawyers? Or at least call in the Opposition Leader and tell him of the urgency (there is really no urgency) of the need to keep the funds a secret?
It would appear that the Granger Administration was planning to use that money as an investment in their elections war chest. They are broke and nervous. They have lost the support of many of their larger donors. They have lost the sparkle of many of their local loyal foot soldiers, and daily they are haemorrhaging politically.
I just had a conversation with one of the largest Afro-Guyanese congregation leaders, and he told me that he has lost confidence in this APNU/AFC Administration. No doubt, that displeasure would be translated to that spiritual leader’s followers.
Meanwhile, the PPP is more financially secure. They still have the support of the biggest and most connected of Guyana’s businessmen and women in and out of Guyana. The folks in the diaspora are slowly returning to their fold. And the PPP has been able to muster a resurgence in its traditional support base. The APNU/AFC coalition is in financial panic mode as it looks towards 2020. Desperate people do desperate things, so expect more attempts at crookedness in the next few months.
Yours truly,
Dr Vishnu Bandhu
