Dear Editor,
I read and agree to some extent with the VETERAN Trade Unionist, Lincoln Lewis, who posited in the Sunday’s edition of the Kaieteur newspapers on September 1, 2019 that, “Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, should be held accountable for his actions, noting that instead of assisting with the governance of the country, he continues to act recklessly.” I said I did agree to a point Mr. Editor, because Mr. Jagdeo is not a normal animal, he has an unquenchable thirst and desire for power.

I say so because he is the only President, and compared to other countries in the Region, Prime Minister who has served more than two consecutive terms (12yrs) in office that our constitution allows. [He] comes out of retirement to become not only the leader of “His Party”, but also holds the General Secretary’s position of his party and is also Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly; denying several young people work.

It is important to remind readers also that his concealed obsession for power came after his failed attempt to gain a third term as presidential candidate for the former Jagan PPP party, so he out manoeuvred all the Jaganites including “ANUG’s” Ralph Ramkarran, – the goat nah bite me man – several others and made the party his own. He then chose a presidential candidate in whom he believes and fantasise will have this power to satisfy his desire but the indomitable David Granger and the coalition stands in his way.

Mr. Editor, every time I hear the name Irfaan Ali, I really feel sorry for him and I ask the question, how can a real man allow himself to [be] used like this? Additionally, three things come to mind: fake name, fake degrees and 19 criminal charges. Firstly, Mr. Editor, Jadgeo’s PPP’s Presidential candidate’s correct name is Mohamed Irfaan Ali. This is the name on his birth certificate and on his missing in action degrees. It is not Irfaan Ali. Guyanese should ask why he has chosen to use Irfaan Ali as his public name even though that is not his first name. I don’t want to believe he is he trying to hide from the general public and international community that he is a Muslim? There is no need to, unless there is a strategic reason that he does not want this to be known.

Mr. Editor, last Sunday, Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Hugh Todd, a lecturer at the University of Guyana, held a well-rehearsed and scripted interview on one of the local PPP-controlled TV stations, who was part of the friends and family network that Jagdeo intentionally gave radio licence to in an effort for the PPP to control all of the state communications assets (radio, TV, cable, satellite) during its discriminatory-driven rule of 23 years – his 12 being the worst.

Hugh Todd is a well-known member of the PPP for over a decade. These days, he is seen as a prominent member on all of the PPP’s poorly-attended marches and protests. He has great ambitions to be a minister and even grandiose ambitions to be the Ambassador to the United States in the intoxicating imagination of the PPP party. On the TV interview with Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Hugh Todd designated himself University of Guyana lecturer but he did not include the fact that he is a strong PPP member. He did this so as to give the public the impression that “two” intellectuals are having a discourse. This is deceptive and follows the same pattern as Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s deception with his name and his questionable degrees.

Hugh Todd and most likely a soon to be member of the PPP lists, was trying to do the impossible. Todd was trying to legitimise Mohamed Irfraan Ali’s questionable degrees and fraudulent representation of himself as a legitimately certified educated person. This conspiracy between Mohamed Ifraan Ali and Todd shows that the PPP will never tell the truth and will forever try to hoodwink and bamboozle the not so conscious.
Jadgeo’s PPP and especially Mohamed Irfaan Ali will always be untruthful to the nation. They will always lie to the International community. They lied about jobs. They lied about their relationship with Roger Khan who took out a full-page advertisement to confirm his relationship with the PPP, lied about the $10,000 cash grant. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has lied about Pradoville and is facing 19 criminal charges because of his conspiracy to defraud the state of lands and to give it to PPP friends and family including Jagdeo, Rohee and Lisa ‘Visa’ Ramotar, and many others.

Mr. Editor, Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s academic history is one of great mystery, fraud and hidden identity. Mohamed Irfaan Ali was once enrolled at the University of Guyana. He registered in 1996 to pursue a diploma in Accounting but never graduated. Mohamed Irfaan Ali alleges he obtained his first degree from a “phantom” University located on the West Coast of Demerara in Guyana. Every Guyanese knows that no such university exists. It is also alleged that Mohamed Irfaan Ali used a fraudulent transcript from the same non-existent university to gain entrance to a master’s degree programme at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in India in 2003.

According to news reports, Mohamed Irfaan Ali secured another Bachelor’s degree in Business Management in 2006 from the University of Sunderland located in the UK. Note however that the University of Sunderland does not offer a degree in “Business Management” but a degree in “Business and Management”.

Thanks to Guyanese Dr. Mark Devonish, who resides in England, it has been revealed that the degree offered by the University of Sunderland is a four-year programme and is not offered online, so it begs the question: how did Mohamed Irfaan Ali obtain this degree while not living and attending classes in the UK?

As the facts are presented, please draw your own inferences.

Mr. Editor, Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Mr. Jacob Opadeyi, is a highly-qualified Professor of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Trinidad. Geomatics is the branch of science that deals with the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data relating to the earth’s surface. He served as Vice-Chancellor and Principal, University of Guyana, 2013-2016, during which period he was awarded a US$193,000 contract by the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) to deliver to the Deeds Registry a fully-functional & operational Land Management Information System for use by the registry’s staff.

Adding to Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s now questionable qualifications is his PhD dissertation in an area that is completely foreign to him; – “Design and Development of an Integrated Land Management Model in Guyana”. Ali’s associate, Dr. Opadeyi is an expert in this field and Ali asserts that Dr. Opadeyi is/was his adviser on his PhD dissertation. This is a rather convenient fact, but as the saying goes, it is a sign of intellectual maturity when you can read not what is on the line, but between it as well and Guyanese usually can.

Mr. Editor, The issue of academic fraud is no laughing matter and if condoned, it could destroy our society in every possible way. We tell our youth and children that education is the key to success. We tell our children that oil is here and Guyana needs to be competitive. We speak about a just society yet we have a presidential candidate who is not only dishonest but one who is unrepentant. Academic fraud is a serious offence. What is interesting to note Mr. Editor is that one of the main universities targeted is the University of Sunderland, which is the very same university that Jadgeo’s presidential candidate purportedly received his bachelor’s degree from. It was reported that one can purchase a fraudulent University of Sunderland credential for just £40 (Pounds Sterling). The fraudulent certificates which contain replicas of the university’s crests and embossed seals are sold on the internet.

In 2018, A BBC Radio programme did an expose` on how thousands of UK nationals bought fake degrees from a multi-million-dollar “diploma mill” in Pakistan. According to the documents exposed by the BBC’s Radio programme, between 2013 and 2014, Axact (the company which issued fake degrees in Pakistan) sold more than 3,000 fake qualifications to UK-based buyers. In 2015, Axact sold more than 215,000 fake qualifications. Globally from around 350 fake universities and raked in £37.5M in a single year.
In the United States and other parts of the world, academic fraud is a serious crime and it is punishable by a fine and imprisonment. Let’s call a spade a spade and not a fork. If an individual engages in padding or embellishing a credential on their resume, it is a crime and it’s a false representation of that person’s accomplishments. In many countries that person can incur criminal charges.

I, like most Guyanese, am happy that our President, David Arthur Granger, who will be re-elected, is eminently and most suitably qualified with authentic legitimate credentials, to continue to lead this big, blessed, bountiful, resources-rich land we call Guyana, for all Guyanese to have a good life.

Regards
Jermaine Figueira
Member of Parliament
Region 10