NEWLY-MINTED Mayor-Elect of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, Alfred Mentore, is facing backlash from city businessmen who have levelled accusations of being intimated to finance the victory rally of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) at the Stabroek Market Square, on Sunday.

Leaked conversations between city businessmen show that the language used by the top city official against the businessmen appeared to be support the rally “or else.” One of the city businessmen explained that he ‘read between the lines and did not want any problems.’

He claimed to have provided $200,000 towards the APNU rally which started with a motorcade and ended with various leaders addressing a relatively small crowd across from the Stabroek Market.

Another businessman accused the city official of also contacting other businessmen via phone seeking donations.

The APNU has alluded to on several occasions being unable to effectively raise funds for the just concluded Local Government Elections (LGE); this was a sign of the party’s growing loss of popularity among the business community which was burdened by heavy-handed taxation measures during the APNU’s tenure in Government.

The party has faced cashflow problems, prompting staff to be paid late on several occasions. Former party treasurer Faaiz Mursaline had resigned earlier this year pointing to several internal financial irregularities including being forced to sign blank cheques without proper supporting documents.

When contacted, Mentore sought to distance himself from being an organiser for the victory rally.

“I had nothing to do with organising the rally,” he said.

He further added that ‘he had nothing to do with soliciting any funds,’ and threatened legal action while calling for supporting evidence to be provided of his involvement.

Several businessmen have expressed fear that there may be attempts by the current APNU-led City Hall to strong-arm city businesses into providing funding to support other events.