–$42M was paid as salaries, VP Jagdeo tells court in response to Alexander’s lawsuit

THE International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly- Guyana (IDPADA-G) received $100 million of State funds in 2020, but only $343,000 in grants were disbursed to ordinary Afro-Guyanese, while $42 million went to paying salaries and allowances.

This information is a part of the audited financial statements of the not-for-profit company.

Lawyers for Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo will be using this as evidence in a lawsuit brought by Vincent Alexander in his capacity as Chairman of IDPADA-G.

According to the lawsuit drafted by Attorney-at-Law Eusi Anderson, Alexander is claiming in excess of $150 million for damages and special damages from Jagdeo for statements he had made.

Alexander is also seeking a public apology, and the retraction of the information that was broadcasted over the electronic media.

The Statement of Claim lists Jagdeo, the Department of Public Information (DPI), and the Attorney-General of Guyana as respondents.

The Vice-President, in his defence, claimed that IDPADA-G, of which Alexander is listed as a beneficial owner, holds itself out to be a representative organisation for the advancement and development of Afro-Guyanese and persons of African Descent in Guyana.

According to the VP, IDPADA-G received approximately $500 million of State funds during the period 2018 to 2022.

In the year 2020, the said company received $100 million, of which approximately $42 million was paid as salaries and allowances, while only $343,000 was actually disbursed by way of grants.

In his court document, lawyers for the VP outlined that only “a small proportion” of the said State funds have been disbursed as grants to ordinary Afro-Guyanese.

As such, in his defence, the Vice-President contended that he’d received numerous complaints from persons in the Afro- Guyanese community and the intended beneficiaries of the said sums that they have been unable to access the same, and have been excluded from any and all decisions regarding the use and allocation.

Lawyers for the VP contend that the payment of about $343,000 or 0.343% of the annual allocation for the ultimate the benefit of Afro-Guyanese and the payment of about $42,000,000 or 42% of the said allocation as salaries was akin to “parasitism”.

“The term ‘parasite’ was used to refer to the consistent conduct of the Claimant and other members of International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly- Guyana Inc. in allocating a large portion of the said State funds to their own use and benefit.

“The term “parasite” was used to refer to the fact that …the Claimant and other members of International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly- Guyana Inc. were the principal beneficiaries of the said funds. The Claimant derived a greater benefit from the said funds than the recipients of grants disbursed by International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly- Guyana Inc,” Jagdeo’s defence document read.

Among other things, the Vice President is contending that he is “politically, legally and morally” enjoined and duty bound to speak out and condemn acts of illegalities, corruption, nepotism and cronyism and has a further duty to expose excesses, abuse of power, mismanagement, incompetence in public office, misuse of state resources and violations of the law and the Constitution.

As such, he said, the words complained of by Alexander, were fair comments and an expression of honest opinions on matters of public importance. The words were published on a matter of public importance and their publication was for the public benefit.

Additionally, DPI and the Attorney General denied that the said publications were defamatory, false or malicious as alleged or at all or capable of any defamatory meaning whatsoever.

According to DPI, if it desisted from publishing the statements, it would have been censoring matters of public interest and failing in its duty to keep the public informed of current events involving the disbursement and expenditure of public funds pursuant to Article 146 of the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana.

It contends that the statements published were “fair comments” on matters of public interest and in line with journalistic principles.

In August 2022, the Guyana Rastafari Council took a swipe on social media at leaders of IDPADA-G and questioned the methodology used to select groups to benefit from the funding they had received from the Government of Guyana since 2018.

In the statement, the Rastafari Council said that there are 40 “black groups” in the assembly, but alleged that the only three signatories to the organisation’s bank account are all from one group, Cuffy 250 Committee.

The group further claimed that it refused to join the “political bandwagon” of IDPADA-G leading up to the 2020 General and Regional Elections (GRE), which, the council said, caused them to be side-lined by IDPADA-G.

“IDPADA-G was basically hijacked by Cuffy 250 and funded by the former gov [sic] to campaign during the last election. Because we didn’t join their political bandwagon they sidelined us and we had to leave,” the Rastafari Council had said through its Facebook page.

IDAPA-G was created as the local coordinating mechanism for activities under the United Nations resolution dedicating a decade (2015 – 2024) to addressing the challenges confronting people of African Descent globally.

The organisation is registered as a private limited liability company, with the principals including Alexander and Dr. Norman T. Ng-A-Qui.

The organisation consists of the General Assembly, a Co-ordinating Council, a Secretariat and Sub-committees, and is expected to promote economic advancement and empowerment of Afro-Guyanese.