–Minister McCoy says

MINISTER within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy has strongly rejected claims made by the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), describing them as “intellectually dishonest” and “politically motivated”.
Responding to a statement from the GHRA in a Stabroek News article published Thursday, April 3, Minister McCoy defended comments made by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, and dismissed attempts by the Association to mischaracterise those remarks as an attack on the wider NGO community.
“To deliberately twist Dr. Jagdeo’s statements into an indictment of the entire NGO community is both intellectually lazy and politically mischievous,” McCoy stated.
He clarified that the General Secretary’s comments were directed at “a specific pattern of conduct by certain actors”, and not at NGOs that work objectively in service of communities.
Minister McCoy also accused the GHRA of long-standing political bias, citing its historical and ideological links to opposition parties such as the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), as well as their coalition, A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).
“It is entirely within the rights of any democratic actor, including the General Secretary of the PPP, to expose and call out this duplicity for what it is,” he asserted.
Highlighting the PPP’s longstanding commitment to democracy and constitutional reform, Minister McCoy noted the party’s role in establishing civil society space, following the restoration of democratic governance in 1992.

“Our economic and social recovery strategy post-1992 was built on inclusion, openness and consultation, with civil society as a recognised partner in the process, from the design and implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme to the moral re-armament initiatives, to the creation of independent rights commissions such as the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Rights of the Child Commission, and the Women and Gender Equality Commission,” he said.
Minister McCoy was particularly critical of organisations such as the GHRA, Red Thread, and the Guyana Press Association, which he claimed are now under the influence of opposition-aligned individuals.

He has accused these groups of engaging in political partisanship while claiming neutrality, adding that they were “silent during the 2020 attempted electoral heist”.
No organisation is above critique, and just as civil society has the constitutional right to scrutinise government, political parties too have the democratic responsibility to scrutinise those NGOs that distort the truth, that operate with dual agendas, and that participate in political activism under the guise of advocacy, McCoy added.
As such, the minister reaffirmed the PPP’s commitment to building an inclusive and progressive nation, declaring that the party would not remain silent in the face of what he described as “hypocrisy masquerading as principle”.
“The PPP remains resolute in our mission to build an inclusive and progressive nation rooted in truth, justice, and development, and that truth demands we expose those who claim to be neutral while advancing partisan interests from the shadows,” the Minister said.