Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed on Thursday questioned the independence of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the MV Barima disaster, alleging that one of its commissioners, Captain Hamada Fowda, has a close personal relationship with President Irfaan Ali and may have played a role in selecting members of the panel.
Speaking shortly after the five-member international commission was sworn in, Mohamed alleged that Fowda’s ties to the President, together with other publicly disclosed professional relationships involving another commissioner, raise serious concerns about the impartiality of the inquiry into one of Guyana’s deadliest maritime disasters.
“Captain Hamada Fowdar, one of the commissioners, has several business interests in Guyana, including involvement with the Maritime School at Friendship on the East Bank of Demerara, and the upscale Laiali restaurant at the Pegasus Hotel. The captain is close to President Irfaan, and information reaching us is that he had a hand in selecting other commissioners,” Mohamed alleged.
He further claimed that Fowda and his family, whom he described as Egyptian nationals, were granted Guyanese citizenship “in record time.”
“Captain Fowda is close to the President. He and his family, who are Egyptian nationals, were given Guyanese citizenship in record time. They were issued with ID cards and passports in no time, while locals are given a hassle to get birth certificates and ID cards. Given those connections, together with his public profile in Guyana, we must now question the commission’s independence,” Mohamed said.
The Commission of Inquiry comprises retired Belizean Justice Godfrey Smith, who serves as Chairman, Captain Hamada Fowda, Trinidad and Tobago maritime attorney Nyree Dawn Alfonso, retired Trinidad and Tobago Rear Admiral Hayden Pritchard, and Polish forensic naval architect Dr. Andrzej Jasionowski.
The commission was appointed by President Ali to investigate the July 18 sinking of the state-owned MV Barima, which claimed the lives of more than 100 people and has become one of the worst maritime disasters in Guyana’s history. The tragedy has sparked widespread calls for accountability amid allegations that the ageing vessel was unseaworthy and should not have been operating.
President Ali has repeatedly described the commission as independent, international and transparent. However, concerns over the appointment process have also been raised by the opposition, trade unions, civil society organisations and governance advocates, who argued that wider consultation would have strengthened public confidence in the inquiry.
Mohamed said he was never consulted on the appointment of the commissioners.
“We remain committed to ensuring that those responsible are held accountable. Now that the commissioners have been named and sworn in, I am disappointed, as Leader of the Opposition, I was not consulted on their appointment. President Ali chose to unilaterally establish this Commission of Inquiry and not make it an inclusive and transparent process.”
He also criticized the Government for excluding members of the media from the swearing-in ceremony.
“It is also worrying that members of the media were locked out during today’s swearing-in ceremony. We know why the media was locked out. The government does not want us to scrutinize the commissioners,” he alleged.
The Opposition Leader also pointed to publicly available information concerning Commissioner Nyree Dawn Alfonso, noting that her Trinidad and Tobago law firm, N.D. Alfonso & Company, identifies Labour Minister Keoma Griffith as its Guyana correspondent and lists a Georgetown office in connection with that arrangement.
“These publicly disclosed professional relationships, again, warrant questions on the commission’s independence and impartiality,” Mohamed said.
He called on the Government to immediately publish the commission’s full terms of reference and disclose the identities of the local officials assigned to assist the commissioners during the inquiry.
Mohamed further argued that Public Works Minister Juan Edghill and Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar, whose ministries oversee agencies connected to the tragedy, should be removed from any involvement while the investigation is underway.
“Ministers Edghill and Indar should also have no involvement whatsoever while this investigation is ongoing. Their ministries have direct responsibility for MARAD and the Transport and Harbours Department, both agencies connected to this tragedy. They both should be sent home pending the outcome of this inquiry and make themselves fully available to answer any questions the commission may have,” he said.
In his most explosive allegation, Mohamed claimed he had received information that records connected to the investigation were being altered.
“Presently, the ministers have instructed their staff, both at Transport and Harbours and at the Maritime Administration Department, to make changes to documents should these documents be requested for investigation. That is the report I received just today. And not just documents for the MV Barima; they are tweaking information on other state-run ferries too,” Mohamed alleged.
He did not provide evidence to support the allegation.
Mohamed also criticised what he described as the silence of the diplomatic community.
“Many diplomatic missions have spoken out on a range of issues affecting Guyana. Given the magnitude of this tragedy and the loss of more than 100 Guyanese lives, they should also speak to the need for accountability,” he said.
