Protests have greeted the government at every turn. The government had planned a number of fanouts, or outreaches as the members called them. Most of these programmes were held in communities largely populated by Afro-Guyanese.
They were held at Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara; Hopetown, West Berbice; Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara; Linden and Buxton.
Each of these outreaches dealt with the establishment of model villages. And in every case the protesters invoked the MV Barima disaster.
The view is that the talk about model villages is a distraction from more serious issues, issues like Irfaan Ali’s farm and the MV Barima disaster. Member of Parliament Juretha Fernandes says that it is not what the government promises but what it does. The model communities could be another pipe dream.
After the initial flurry of comments by Prime Minister Brig. Mark Phillips and Minister Juan Edghill, there has been a marked silence, as marked as the one-minute silence observed in the National Assembly when the House met to release more money to the government.
The government, through President Irfaan Ali, announced a Commission of Inquiry. This commission was appointed and sworn in a mere four days after President Ali’s announcement.
It turned out that three of the members were implicated or accused of being implicated in malfeasance. Immediately the cry was that the commission was tainted. There was the query of the president being able to ferret out people of questionable character for his commission.
There has also been no word on the cost of the Commission. It was the same with the Commission of Inquiry into the Mahdia dormitory fire in 2023. The nation is still to be made aware of the cost of that commission.
The nation was only made aware of the cost of prosecuting the Mohameds for extradition because a letter by Attorney General Anil Nandlall ended up in the public domain. The government would never have said anything.
Most issues are like state secrets. On occasions, the nation was only made aware of issues when they were revealed in the Auditor General’s Report. At other times the nation is informed through leaked communications.
Leaked communications now feature within the halls of the Caribbean Court of Justice. Courts are supposed to be independent. Judgements are based on the law; or are supposed to be based on the law.
Now there is a cloud over the Caribbean Court of Justice. The President, Justice Winston Anderson, appears to be deeply embroiled in Guyana’s affairs. He has a close relationship with the hierarchy of the ruling People’s Progressive Party.
The nation is now hearing of the role he played in the refusal of President Irfaan Ali to confirm Justice Yonette Cummings as Chancellor of the Judiciary. Then Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, has spoken about the role the CCJ President played.
And this man behaved as though he was a member of the PPP Cabinet. In the case of Guyana, the CCJ can no longer be counted on to present an unbiased judgement.
Still fresh in the memory was how the CCJ implanted itself into Guyana’s 2020 election. The constitution stipulated that the Guyana Court of Appeal was the ultimate court to hear elections matter.
However, the PPP approached the CCJ and viola, the CCJ ruled that it had jurisdiction. Justice Yonette Cummings- Edwards had ruled against the PPP. That is the reason why Irfaan Ali refused to confirm her as Chancellor.
Aubrey Norton is now speaking about Justice Winston Anderson’s role in getting her out of the post and supporting the move to supersede other senior judges for the post of Chief Justice.
What Guyanese now know is that Justice Anderson was very close to the PPP. Some years ago, when Bharrat Jagdeo approached the CCJ, through private citizen Cedric Richardson, to secure a third term as President, the CCJ, chaired by Justice Sir Dennis Byron, voted six to one to reject the third term motion. It transpired that the dissenting vote was cast by Justice Anderson.
As Norton tells it, he had missed several calls from Justice Anderson. When he did call the CCJ President the talk was about Yonette Cummings-Edwards accepting the package offered by the government to demit office.
Justice Anderson admitted to being involved in the deal. This involvement of the CCJ official into Guyana’s judiciary did not spell independence for the Caribbean court.
Norton said that he later learnt that Justice Cummings-Edwards did not leave voluntarily. He also learnt that Justice Anderson was with President Irfaan Ali who was waiting to swear in Justice Roxane George- Wiltshire was Chancellor and Justice Navindra Singh as Chief Justice.
The local courts have long been politicised. For the CCJ, the ultimate court for Guyana to be similarly politicised speaks volumes for the judiciary. Many countries refuse to accept the CCJ as the higher court. It would now seem that they have good reason.
Other members of the CCJ are now accusing Justice Anderson of being a dictator. But even before Justice Anderson there was Justice Adrian Saunders. He served on the court from 2005 to 2025. He too was close to the PPP but his relationship was not as glaring.
It was under his presidency that the CCJ ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear the 2020 elections matter. The rest is history.
