With over $130 trillion owed to decedents of enslaved Africans worldwide, APNU Member of Parliament Dr. David Hinds last week slammed the government for failing to even consider allocating some funds in this year’s budget to support African Guyanese and the cause of reparations locally.
A co-leader of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Dr. Hinds also rebuked African Guyanese on the government side of the house, over their failure or reluctance to “stand up for the dignity” of their people.
Dr. Hinds was at the time making his contribution to the parliamentary debate of the 2026 national budget. He reminded the National Assembly that the government had signed on to the CARICOM Reparation Initiative and the United Nation’s (UN) International Decade of People of African Descent because they recognised there exist special needs of African Guyanese. However, he said the administration failed African Guyanese when it excluded any form of consideration for reparations in the national budget.
“African Guyanese toiled in this country and the experts have said they are owed $131 trillion for unpaid wages for over 200 years of slavery. And in our budget of $1.5 trillion, no where could we have found a place to put some resources towards reparations?
“I marveled at my Amerindian brothers and sisters arguing across the aisle. They are not arguing whether there are funds for Amerindians, they are arguing how much funds there are for Amerindians. What about Africans. Can we not put African Guyanese first too?,” he pleaded
Back in 2021, [and 2023] President Irfaan Ali committed to gaining international reparations for the crime of African enslavement, noting that reparations must go beyond an apology.
At the 20th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, Ali said Guyana will continue to support efforts within the Caribbean Community to press for the convening of an international summit to demand reparative justice for the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, African enslavement, and its enduring effects. However, in none of Guyana’s budgets under his stewardship, has their been any consideration for reparations here.
Meanwhile, during his budget debate, Dr. Hinds had reason to respond to Prime Minister, Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips, who, along with other African Guyanese on the government side, had taken umbrage to Hinds’ call for support for reparations.
“I am glad the prime minister has raised his voice. He’s an African Guyanese . I think the ancestors would be more joyful if the African Guyanese on the PPP would stand up for African Guyanese dignity,” Dr. Hinds declared.
Further in his presentation , Dr. Hinds advocated for the restoration of the subvention to the International Decade of People of African Descent-Guyana (IDPADA-G), which was taken away by the Ali administration in 2022.
The government took away the $100 million subvention to the organisation which was established to lead the cause in African communities in Guyana. Chairman of IDPADA-G, Vincent Alexander had said the government has been treating the organisation unfairly, failing to execute the resolution set out by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.
The UN in 2013 proclaimed 2015 to 2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent, intended to redress historical deficiencies, historical wrongs, absence of recognition, absence of justice and absence of development, among other objectives. A second decade was announced at the end of December 2024, however IDPADA-G has still not received support from the PPP/C Government. (Release)
