-Gov’t rejects IDPADA-G’s claims of discrimination against Afro-Guyanese, Minister Walrond tells UN forum

THE Government of Guyana has staunchly rejected the allegations of discrimination against Afro-Guyanese that were made by representatives of International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly Guyana (IDPADA-G).

In a spirited response at the 3rd Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent in Geneva, Switzerland, Minister of Tourism Oneidge Walrond, who is leading the Guyana delegation chided this claimed as “false” and “baseless.”

Minister Walrond highlighted the importance of providing a platform for marginalised communities, stating, “We recognise the right of all to come here and to speak their truth.”

She vehemently denied the claims put forth by Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes regarding discrimination faced by Afro-Guyanese in Guyana. Hughes was at the time representing IDPADA-G.

“As the Government of Guyana, our truth is that we reject entirely as false and baseless the allegations made at this session by representatives of IDPADA-G,” Minister Walrond asserted.

She highlighted the government’s efforts to support African Guyanese organisations, noting concerns raised about the distribution of funds provided to IDPADA-G.

“Our truth is that African Guyanese organisations under the IDPADA-G’s umbrella complained to us that they were not receiving benefits from the $500 million government provided to IDPADA-GY,” Minister Walrond explained.

She elaborated that the government found that a significant portion of the allocated funds were consumed by administrative overheads, prompting a change in financing procedures.

“We therefore opted to provide financing directly to the beneficiary organisations who, in turn, are free to pay over to IDPADA-G if they think IDPADA-G worthy of their confidence,” Minister Walrond stated.

While expressing regret that her remarks were dominated by these matters, Minister Walrond reiterated Guyana’s commitment to the forum’s objectives and the human rights of people of African descent worldwide.

“I would have preferred to focus on our collective objectives as persons of African descent. Despite this, please remain assured of the unwavering commitment and support of the Government of Guyana to this forum,” she affirmed.

Minister Walrond while urging the United Nations and its institutions to be objective and impartial observers, stressed the importance of maintaining the confidence of all legitimate stakeholders, including member states and representatives of civil society.

In December 2013, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 68/237, by which it proclaimed the years 2015 to 2024 to be the International Decade for People of African Descent.

STATE FUNDS

Funding was allocated within national budgets to support this initiative. In 2018, the sum of $68.4 million was allocated to the IDPADA-G. Subsequently, funding was increased to $100 million annually, for 2019 through 2022.

IDPADA-G received approximately $500 million of state funds during the period 2018 to 2020. In the year 2020, the organisation 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.

However, only a small proportion of the said state funds had been disbursed as grants to ordinary Afro-Guyanese.

Government had received numerous complaints from persons in Afro-Guyanese communities and intended beneficiaries about being unable to access funds from IDPADA-G, and excluded from any and all decisions regarding the use and allocation of the sums.
Among the projects presented and approved by the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport for funding are Agriculture ventures, including shade houses; cash crops, and livestock.

Other projects include training in areas such as drumming, craft, garment construction, culinary arts, and women’s empowerment, while educational initiatives focused on the teaching of history and literacy.

In 2023, the government allocated another $100 million to support a total of 55 groups, a part of which is IDPADA-G. Out of these groups, only 35 submitted project proposals to access funding.

However, in the last three years alone over $1.8 billion in financial support has been distributed to Afro-Guyanese organisations and communities to promote and preserve culture and also develop sport infrastructure.

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 on its Facebook page.

The organisation is registered as a private limited liability company, with two principals.

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.