In her first major outreach since launching the Forward Guyana movement, presidential candidate Amanza Walton-Desir took her message of change and accountability to communities in the East Berbice-Corentyne region this week, where she said the people spoke with clarity and urgency.
In a post following her visit, Walton-Desir noted, “People are worried about their future.” But more alarming, she said, is the sentiment among young people who feel “completely abandoned.”
Delivering a sharp rebuke of the Irfaan Ali administration, Walton-Desir called out what she described as the government’s failure to address the concerns of Guyana’s youth. “The people need leadership that listens, that acts, and that puts people first,” she declared.
Her visit comes on the heels of a bold political move. On June 17, Walton-Desir, once a high-ranking Member of Parliament and a senior figure in the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), officially resigned from both the party and the National Assembly. The following day, she announced the launch of her new political platform—Forward Guyana.
The decision, she emphasised, was not about walking away, but stepping into something transformational. “Sometimes, to step up, you must first step out. And so, I step forward out of deep responsibility to the people of this country and a conviction that something new is needed, something greater!” she stated.
That “something greater” is a political movement she describes not as a party of privilege or status, but one forged from “courage, conscience, and collective will.”
Forward Guyana, Walton-Desir says, is a platform for the “poor, the single mother, the frustrated youth, the undervalued teacher, nurse, doctor…the discouraged farmer and local businessman.”
Her call for renewal comes at a time of mounting frustration across the country. Despite billions in annual oil revenues flowing to the government and multinational companies like ExxonMobil, Walton-Desir argues that ordinary Guyanese remain trapped in systemic poverty.
“Poverty in terms of unnecessarily hard lives, from a high cost of living, poor wages, underemployment, hunger, unsafe public transportation, a lack of adequate public safety and rampant corruption at every level—in the midst of a booming oil industry where the government earns millions daily and Exxon billions every year,” she said.
For Walton-Desir, the movement is driven by an unshakable belief that Guyana’s moment for transformation is now. “I know I can make a difference. It may be uncomfortable for me and for others, but the truth is this: Guyana cannot wait any longer. Our people are out of patience.”
With two-thirds of the population under the age of 40, youth voices are expected to play a decisive role in the upcoming general elections scheduled for September 1, 2025. Walton-Desir’s campaign appears focused on tapping into that demographic — a generation she believes is ready to demand more from their leaders and their future.
Walton-Desir is betting that the hunger for real change will be more powerful than the fear of breaking with tradition.
