AUGUST 02, 2021, will officially mark one year of the Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali administration. While there will be much analyses of that period, space will not allow for a detailed review here. That said, at such a juncture, it is imperative to contextualise what has been achieved, or not, taking into consideration what was inherited.
Dr. Ali took office at a very delicate period in our history. Just a year ago, there were glaring attempts by the then APNU/AFC coalition government to subvert the will of the Guyanese people following the March 02, 2020, elections which the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won.
In reality, the genesis of those attempts, which dragged the post elections period to five months, could be traced to October 2017 when President David Granger unconstitutionally swore in Justice James Patterson as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
That action undoubtedly led to much concern over an emerging dictatorship for which Mr. Granger’s Party was infamous. Naturally, uncertainty grew and the impact on economic activity was inevitably negative.

Just about a year after, a no-confidence motion (NCM) against the APNU/AFC government was successfully passed in the National Assembly and the then coalition government refused to abide by the constitutional processes triggered by the NCM. Having been toppled by the NCM, the coalition government found ways, some frivolous and laughable, to illegally hold on to power.
With every passing day, that uncertainty grew, as well as fear, further crippling economic activity and imposing hardships on the citizenry. That, and what transpired during the five-month post elections period of 2020, tarnished the country’s international image and led to economic regression. The COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 and its poor handling by the coalition compounded woes as many businesses were forced to close and unemployment rose. Those jobs lost were in addition to the thousands as a result of the APNU/AFC government closing a number of sugar estates without considering alternative employment. When Dr. Ali took the oath of office as Guyana’s 9th Executive President on August 02, 2020, he inherited a situation of a country in economic ruin and one without a clear plan and resources to combat the raging COVID-19 pandemic. The fact that the fear of a dictatorship and the resulting impact on mindsets and the country, ballooned before he took that oath, cannot be overstated.

It seemed déjà vu when the situation in October 1992 is taken into consideration. What has since transpired in the first year of President Ali’s administration must be seen from the August 02, 2020, baseline. In that context, what has been outstanding in this first year is the leadership President Ali has provided.
This is evident in every aspect of his government’s extensive development plan for Guyana and Guyanese across the country. Immediately upon taking office, he implemented a comprehensive plan of action to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and one that saw efforts to boost capacity in terms of vital equipment and training, ramping up and decentralising testing and securing vaccines. He operated on multiple tracts that included finding ways to gradually reopen the country, to create jobs, to implement mega transformative projects and to strengthen and widen social services, as a few examples.

Thousands of house lots and titles have been distributed, scholarships to build capacity are being awarded, cash grants to help mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 were given out while the “Because We Care” initiative is ongoing. Every sector is rapidly rolling out development programmes and policies with the direct intent to advance the country and its people. In the process, confidence and Guyana’s international image have been restored. As a result, investors are gravitating to the country for diverse projects as new opportunities are being created and dreams realised. The many developmental projects implemented during this first year is testimony to the astute leadership of President Ali as, together with his Cabinet, the PPP/C government has truly brought Guyana to the cusp of transformation through modernisation as it did during the 23 years following the 1992 elections.