MS. OPRAH WINFREY, a billionaire, made two appearances for Kamala Harris’s campaign. As required by law, candidates have to state which donation they receive from whom and how they spent monies on the campaign. It is required by law so political parties have to send in the accounting data to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).

The FEC one of the most deceiving institutions in the world. You read about it and immediately a person in and outside of the US think it is a prodigious accountability mechanism. And you instantly say in your mind that the US has a good accountability system. That is a gargantuan deception. The FEC is a hugely ineffective body whose effectiveness has been vastly reduced over the years because of mutual opportunism by both the Republicans and Democrats.

The FEC resembles Guyana’s GECOM whereby its six-member leadership consists of political appointees from both Democrats and Republicans. For the FEC to take any action against violations, four members have to vote in a majority decision. Unlike GECOM where there is a 3/3 split along party lines, with a 7th member, a chairman, casting a majority vote, the FEC has no such independent chairman, so majority decisions are impossible to come by.

Space constraints prevent an elongated discussion on the FEC but two points need to be mentioned. One is that the FEC has either refused to act or is too dysfunctional to confront very mysterious money that penetrates election campaigns, especially of the two hegemonic parties – Democrats and Republicans. The FEC has become a farce when one thinks of how billions of dollars fund the campaigns of the two giants and they slip through the radar of the FEC.

The second point is related to the popular Prime Minister of Barbados, Ms. Mia Mottley. When a Western journalist probed the PM on corruption in Third World governments, the PM’s reaction was swift and to the point. She asked the journalist why there is always the question of corruption in the Third World but not in the West where it has a strong presence.

The tragic mind in the post-colonial world is deceived by all these glowing legislations in the West that compel you to think that the West is more transparent, accountable and incorruptible than governments in the Global South.

The most corrupted transaction in the modern world going back the past two hundred years occurred in the US. Contractors siphoned off billions of American money in the Iraqi invasion and were not and still not accounted for. And these people lecture us in the Global South about corruption.

Two pieces of information before I move on. The so-called democracies in the West are sending resources to Ukraine without parliamentary oversight. Secondly, there is a diplomatic mission in Guyana that over the years gave hundreds of millions to civil society groups without any mechanism of accountability.

One woman took $42 million for an Amerindian project that was never done. I can name the woman. During the local government elections in 2023, that mission secretly donated US$21, 000 from a Barbadian account to an Amerindian organisation to be used by the opposition. My source is impeccable. My information is water proof. And the West lectures us on corruption.

Now to Winfrey and Harris. Both are champions of the African-American cause. But how much do successful Black American politicians care about the psychic and economic entrapment of Black American working classes? FEC records showed that Harris’ campaign paid Winfrey one million dollars for two appearances. The New York Times (NYT) says it has information that it is $2.5 million. But how can it be $ 2.5 M when all spending has to be submitted to the FEC? If the NYT is right then how effective is the FEC?

But why did Winfrey charge a million dollars? She said she didn’t get a cent. The money went to her company. The scandal is all over the media because it raises the question of why Winfrey had to charge for company expenses in the first place. And secondly, since Harris’ campaign had to fork out $1M, then what did Winfrey contribute to Harris’ campaign?

Now I am no expert on women’s fashion but from what I saw, Winfrey’s clothing at those two appearances looks like they were worth more than $1M. FEC records reveal that Harris’ campaign spent lots of money on high-end restaurants and expensive foods including the world’s most expensive ice-cream.

It should not confuse you why Harris lost when you look at how and where her campaign spent money. The consensus around the world is that Harris lost because working people and the middle class were alienated from the Democratic Party. Most importantly, African Americans are no longer fooled by high profile Black American politicians.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.