IN 2022, detective Dion Bascom made some devastating allegations against Azruddin Mohamed in relation to a shooting outside Palm Court that led to the immediate death of Ricardo Fagundes, a very close friend of Roger Khan.
At the funeral service held at the motor racing club on Albert Street, Khan in his eulogy told the “mourners” or attendees that the target of the attack was him, but the hitmen mistook Fagundes for him. The incident occurred outside Palm Court, on Main Street, a joint that attracts some of Guyana’s most questionable nouveau riche personalities. The murder was a night-time hit.
I will always remember the motor-racing club funeral service. I was doing my regular, matutinal exercise in the National Park and had difficulty gaining entrance onto Thomas Road because the funeral service created a traffic jam.
There was a sociological lesson to be learnt from that episode. The deceased and Mr Khan attracted the presence of some high-society women and men from the nouveau riche class at the service, some of whom no doubt would revolt at the idea of stopping and having a beer at Stabroek Market Square – I took my wife there yesterday (Sunday) morning. When I was small, I drank heavily on a sermon that went like this: “Everything outside but nothing inside.” I am still drinking that intoxicant.
Things went badly for Azruddin Mohamed when in 2020, Bascom went public with his allegations. Mr Mohamed and Superintendent of Police, Mitchell Caesar rejected the statement made by Bascom. Mohamed sued Bascom for $200M. Bascom’s attorney Nigel Hughes then asked the state to provide a security detail for Bascom out of fear for his life.
In 2025, Mohamed withdrew the libel writ on the basis of an apology Bascom gave to him. Surprisingly, Bascom went public and denied this claim, saying that he had not spoken or seen Mohamed since 2022, so there could not have been any apology.
Last week, two media houses – Village Voice and HGPTV — publicly stated that it has been alleged that Mr Caesar had his U.S. visa revoked this year. There has been no confirmation of this action by the police and the U.S. Embassy, so it remains in the domain of hearsay.
Today (Monday) the presence of Mohamed will be conspicuous as he waits to be voted in as Opposition Leader, a direction that is regrettable. Even though Mr Mohamed’s status as Opposition Leader will be short-lived because of the inevitability of extradition, the WIN party, literally a one-man show, should see its executives part company with Mohamed and request Mohamed to step aside in favour of one of his parliamentarians.
The WIN executives (I’m not sure WIN has an executive committee) will have a wretched political life and will be unable to face this nation should they vote for Mohamed as Opposition Leader. When Mohamed is extradited, what will these people do? What would their politics be like? How can they muster decency to speak to the nation about policies and laws?
Given his baggage, both in terms of allegations against him and him showing off his opulence, why would the WIN people want to have Azruddin as the Opposition Leader of their country? What political character has Mohamed displayed to earn him the respect of the nation? But this country had a taste of Mohamed during the election campaign.
Dorwin Bess, the leader of an opposition party, noted on his Facebook page that at a meeting to discuss party collaboration, Mohamed was only interested in Bess subsuming his identity under WIN. Dr Mark France made some damning revelations against Mohamed on the Freddie Kissoon Show after the elections results, which show what Mohamed will become as a parliamentarian.
One is that he, France, was not allowed to campaign freely using his ANUG trademark, even though ANUG was in a coalition with WIN. Secondly, it was Mohamed not ANUG leaders who picked the parliamentarian who would represent ANUG. Should such a person become the Opposition Leader? If the APNU and WIN parliamentarians vote for Mohamed today to become the official Opposition Leader, I want to see if in the next four years, they have the temerity to speak about bad governance.
So today, Guyana will see a juxtaposition. Mohamed’s presence will be very visible. But where is the visibility of Dion Bascom? He said he did not apologise to Mohamed for his Fagundes allegations, and who would risk harming him now if he speaks out, though I acknowledge that his security is paramount. At this point in time, Bascom and lawyer, Nigel Hughes, should resurface and let the games begin.
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.
