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FM
Former Member
November 12, 2013 9:54 PM

 

AFC councillor details widespread corruption within party

WEDNESDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2013 15:38 ADMINISTRATOR
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By AFC Region 6 Councillor Haseef Yusuf

AFC Councillor, Haseef Yusuf

Nothing that the Alliance For Change (AFC) does or will do in the future will ever surprise me again. There is a saying that you only know someone when you deal with him. If I had not dealt with certain executive members of the AFC, I would still be singing their praises.I knew from the inception that Nigel Hughes would rescind his resignation because in the end, when you are in the same boat, you will never want to part company with your compadres. The ‘top guns’ in the AFC need each other’s support badly. They complement each other’s corrupt practices, as they try to outsmart their members and supporters.
However, recently there was a desperate attempt to get rid of me by the National Executive Committee of the AFC since I am not part of the corrupt ‘jahaaji’ network. They sent a message with an AFC Region 6 Councillor that if I am not pleased with the current policies and actions of the party then I should resign from the party and as an AFC Councillor. I told that Councillor in no uncertain terms that if the AFC is not pleased with my stance against cronyism and corruption and my promotion of national development, then they should expel me and furthermore, it is the corrupt ones within the AFC who should resign!


Ironically, it was the same Councillor who submitted exhaustive evidence of cronyism and corruption against an AFC MP at an inquiry, who claimed that he spent in excess of $4.5M on ‘bigan’ and ‘curass’. That was a ‘whitewash inquiry’ and even the Chairman of that inquiry, the then General Secretary Mr Sextus Edwards, was not aware of the press release which concluded that the entire episode was one of ‘misunderstanding and miscommunication.’ You cannot go against your own kind!
Subsequently, there was numerous evidence of corruption but I no longer have the resolve to bring it up. It was simply a case of you cannot fight the Devil’s case in Hell!

I will just itemize a few instances:

- Certain top members of the AFC will go abroad (Canada, USA) and members in the diaspora will hold fund- raisers and give monies collected to these members who will not submit the same in its entirety since proper accounting records are not kept. I was utterly shocked when the unaudited financial statement for 2012 showed that in one year the AFC only collected $22,087,500 from its chapters in the UK, Canada, USA, etc. During the 2011 campaign alone; one of the chapters in Canada sent $55,000 Canadian or $11,000,000 (Guyana dollars). I have evidence of this.


- Certain top AFC members will collect donations and not make any recordings in any receipt book or any document whatever.


- Monies are being spent with no proper bills or vouchers;


- positions are given to cronies and those who donate a lot.


- I saw a top AFC member collect monies and issue a receipt but on looking closer I saw that there was no carbon sheet, hence no duplication made. How was the balancing done?


- Everything was donated for a fund-raiser in Berbice and it made a loss!


- On Election Day 2011, food and drinks were diverted to some AFC members’ homes for their private use while some AFC polling agents went hungry;


- During the 2012 AFC convention, a motion was passed for AFC groups to bank all monies collected in a party account, this was never done. In fact, it was I who raised that motion which was unanimously passed. So much for accountability!

- During the 2011 elections there were three factions in Berbice and all were accusing each other about theft, mismanagement and corruption, but no investigation was done. The leaders of the AFC cannot afford to ‘rock the boat.’

- During the AFC 2012 convention, members were specifically instructed not to vote for the former General Secretary but to vote in favour of David Patterson. This also happened in the case of Moses Nagamootoo and Mrs. Punalall.

- Article 15(9) of the AFC Constitution stated that the National Executive Committee shall appoint an auditor annually yet the AFC presented an unaudited and inaccurate financial statement at the AFC 2012 Convention. There is no shortage of accountants and auditors within the AFC, so why no audited accounts?

- The financial statement which ended on February 2012 showed a surplus of $464,643 yet members were told after the 2011 Elections that the AFC owed Mrs Cathy Hughes a sum in excess of $ 7,000,000 and that the AFC MPs will have to make contributions towards offsetting that liability. How can there be a surplus when monies are owed? In other words, there were no bills to support the spending of $ 7 million! The financial statement did not speak of any liability! Here is a party that is preaching accountability but is utterly devoid of that concept in its internal dealings.

Is this the party that wants to run this country? It seems as if the worst from the PNC and PPP formed the AFC; not the best as I had believed! Mr Ramjattan himself told me that if the AFC had won the elections, there would have been ‘murderation’ among members for positions. But it would have also been ‘murderation’ to fill their pockets! Imagine all the political blackmail that is going on now with the intention to fill some of the AFC’s ‘fat cats’ pockets! Come on Ramjattan, make the ‘right turn’ or resign! You cannot allow your ‘boys’ to continue their corrupt tendencies! But then can you afford “to rock the boat”?
Is it wrong for me to speak out about the very things the AFC is preaching in public about? Should I keep my mouth shut, turn a blind eye and pretend that all is well within my party?
I believe in what the Great Mahatma preached- do not be afraid to speak out against corruption even if you are alone. History will judge and absolve me for speaking out against cronyism and corruption within my party. I will have to clean my house before I clean my neighbour’s. Let us remove the ‘beam’ from our own eyes then we can see to remove the ‘speck’ from our brother’s.

 
 
 
 

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Originally Posted by yuji22:
November 12, 2013 9:54 PM

 

AFC councillor details widespread corruption within party

WEDNESDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2013 15:38 ADMINISTRATOR
PrintPDF

By AFC Region 6 Councillor Haseef Yusuf

AFC Councillor, Haseef Yusuf

Nothing that the Alliance For Change (AFC) does or will do in the future will ever surprise me again. There is a saying that you only know someone when you deal with him. If I had not dealt with certain executive members of the AFC, I would still be singing their praises.I knew from the inception that Nigel Hughes would rescind his resignation because in the end, when you are in the same boat, you will never want to part company with your compadres. The ‘top guns’ in the AFC need each other’s support badly. They complement each other’s corrupt practices, as they try to outsmart their members and supporters.
However, recently there was a desperate attempt to get rid of me by the National Executive Committee of the AFC since I am not part of the corrupt ‘jahaaji’ network. They sent a message with an AFC Region 6 Councillor that if I am not pleased with the current policies and actions of the party then I should resign from the party and as an AFC Councillor. I told that Councillor in no uncertain terms that if the AFC is not pleased with my stance against cronyism and corruption and my promotion of national development, then they should expel me and furthermore, it is the corrupt ones within the AFC who should resign!


Ironically, it was the same Councillor who submitted exhaustive evidence of cronyism and corruption against an AFC MP at an inquiry, who claimed that he spent in excess of $4.5M on ‘bigan’ and ‘curass’. That was a ‘whitewash inquiry’ and even the Chairman of that inquiry, the then General Secretary Mr Sextus Edwards, was not aware of the press release which concluded that the entire episode was one of ‘misunderstanding and miscommunication.’ You cannot go against your own kind!
Subsequently, there was numerous evidence of corruption but I no longer have the resolve to bring it up. It was simply a case of you cannot fight the Devil’s case in Hell!

I will just itemize a few instances:

- Certain top members of the AFC will go abroad (Canada, USA) and members in the diaspora will hold fund- raisers and give monies collected to these members who will not submit the same in its entirety since proper accounting records are not kept. I was utterly shocked when the unaudited financial statement for 2012 showed that in one year the AFC only collected $22,087,500 from its chapters in the UK, Canada, USA, etc. During the 2011 campaign alone; one of the chapters in Canada sent $55,000 Canadian or $11,000,000 (Guyana dollars). I have evidence of this.


- Certain top AFC members will collect donations and not make any recordings in any receipt book or any document whatever.


- Monies are being spent with no proper bills or vouchers;


- positions are given to cronies and those who donate a lot.


- I saw a top AFC member collect monies and issue a receipt but on looking closer I saw that there was no carbon sheet, hence no duplication made. How was the balancing done?


- Everything was donated for a fund-raiser in Berbice and it made a loss!


- On Election Day 2011, food and drinks were diverted to some AFC members’ homes for their private use while some AFC polling agents went hungry;


- During the 2012 AFC convention, a motion was passed for AFC groups to bank all monies collected in a party account, this was never done. In fact, it was I who raised that motion which was unanimously passed. So much for accountability!

- During the 2011 elections there were three factions in Berbice and all were accusing each other about theft, mismanagement and corruption, but no investigation was done. The leaders of the AFC cannot afford to ‘rock the boat.’

- During the AFC 2012 convention, members were specifically instructed not to vote for the former General Secretary but to vote in favour of David Patterson. This also happened in the case of Moses Nagamootoo and Mrs. Punalall.

- Article 15(9) of the AFC Constitution stated that the National Executive Committee shall appoint an auditor annually yet the AFC presented an unaudited and inaccurate financial statement at the AFC 2012 Convention. There is no shortage of accountants and auditors within the AFC, so why no audited accounts?

- The financial statement which ended on February 2012 showed a surplus of $464,643 yet members were told after the 2011 Elections that the AFC owed Mrs Cathy Hughes a sum in excess of $ 7,000,000 and that the AFC MPs will have to make contributions towards offsetting that liability. How can there be a surplus when monies are owed? In other words, there were no bills to support the spending of $ 7 million! The financial statement did not speak of any liability! Here is a party that is preaching accountability but is utterly devoid of that concept in its internal dealings.

Is this the party that wants to run this country? It seems as if the worst from the PNC and PPP formed the AFC; not the best as I had believed! Mr Ramjattan himself told me that if the AFC had won the elections, there would have been ‘murderation’ among members for positions. But it would have also been ‘murderation’ to fill their pockets! Imagine all the political blackmail that is going on now with the intention to fill some of the AFC’s ‘fat cats’ pockets! Come on Ramjattan, make the ‘right turn’ or resign! You cannot allow your ‘boys’ to continue their corrupt tendencies! But then can you afford “to rock the boat”?
Is it wrong for me to speak out about the very things the AFC is preaching in public about? Should I keep my mouth shut, turn a blind eye and pretend that all is well within my party?
I believe in what the Great Mahatma preached- do not be afraid to speak out against corruption even if you are alone. History will judge and absolve me for speaking out against cronyism and corruption within my party. I will have to clean my house before I clean my neighbour’s. Let us remove the ‘beam’ from our own eyes then we can see to remove the ‘speck’ from our brother’s.

 
 
 
 

a man who cannot find is way is lost

FM
Originally Posted by yuji22:

If I donated to the AFC, I would be asking some tough questions after these revelations. 

In 2013 the AFC waged a fight against corruption and advocated the need for   good governance. We focused on demanding accountability and transparency in   the day to day running of our dear country Guyana. In this area our shouts   have been loud and resounding resulting in the many revelations of corruption   in the management of our national assets by our Government that seemed to   plague the entire year yet again. This fight was vindicated with the   pronouncements we heard from Transparency
   
  International, in US State Department reports, from our diplomatic missions   and our own Auditor General as we continue to strive to establish a true   democracy.

Mitwah

Dear Friend,
 
  As the New Year approaches the Alliance For Change gives thanks for all the   blessings and support we have received from the people of Guyana and will   continue to work
 
  towards creating a more prosperous Guyana – one that all her citizens would   be proud to call home. This past year has been a challenging one for most   Guyanese with alarmingly high levels of domestic violence, affecting mainly   our women and the high incidence of road fatalities, which have taken many   valuable lives, including our youngest and brightest minds.
 
  In 2013 the AFC waged a fight against corruption and advocated the need for   good governance. We focused on demanding accountability and transparency in   the day to day running of our dear country Guyana. In this area our shouts   have been loud and resounding resulting in the many revelations of corruption   in the management of our national assets by our Government that seemed to   plague the entire year yet again. This fight was vindicated with the   pronouncements we heard from Transparency
   
  International, in US State Department reports, from our diplomatic missions   and our own Auditor General as we continue to strive to establish a true   democracy.
 
 
  Our stance in Parliament has been based on these principles as we sought to   bring the Government to account to Parliament as should be. To this end we   have taken up issues that dealt with this – including the need for the   establishment of a Public Procurement Commission, and amendments to the   Fiscal Management and Accountable Act to ensure financial accountability of   the Judiciary and Parliament. We have taken strong positions on the need for   state funds held by NICIL to be deposited and accounted for in our consolidate   fund, and that both the Integrity and the Ethnic Relations Commissions should   be fully operationalized.
 
  The Alliance For Change has also advocated that the position of Chancellor   and Chief Justice be filled and most importantly have been consistent over   the years with calls for the holding of Local Government Elections which we   know will open up a new vista for peoples participation. These are the   hallmarks of what the AFC has done to enhance our democracy in 2013.
 
  In 2014 our still incomplete agenda will continue as we fervently hope that   Local government Elections will be held. We will continue the fight for a   living wage, and that monies voted for increases in wages will be   specifically quantified in the next budget. It is our hope that greater respect   for collective bargaining and consultation with the Unions on the welfare of   their members and without government making arbitrary awards will take place.
 
  We will continue to advance the issues you have asked us to raise on your   behalf – a reduction in the economic pressures placed on your pockets,   garbage free communities for your children to grow up in, jobs for our young   people and a livable wage for all.
 
  In 2014 we will lobby hard to ensure that the state media will be opened up   to give us and other organizations access to this “national” resources as   happens in most democracies across the globe and that coverage of   parliamentary proceedings will be carried live better informing the people of   Guyana and eliminating the cloak and dagger approach.
 
  We in the Alliance for Change know that more can be achieved when we accept   that every Guyanese has a valuable contribution to make. We recommit to   ensuring that the spirit of working together amongst our major political   parties is put back firmly on the national agenda recognizing that   constructive dialogue is the only way to ensure we move this country of ours   forward, for the benefit of all.
 
  In closing we salute our gallant fighters in all ten regions of Guyana and in   the diaspora who have kept the Alliance For Change going under difficult   circumstance and note the passing of several of our members and close friends   who have all contributed to making the AFC a national institution for change.   May your new year be filled with peace, good health and prosperity.
 
  Happy New Year to all Guyana.
  Alliance For Change

Mitwah

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