Dr. Joey Jagan, son of late People’s Progressive Party (PPP) leader and former President Dr Cheddi Jagan, has delivered a sharp rebuke of the party’s current leadership, declaring that those now running the organisation bear little resemblance to his father and have moved away from the policies and principles associated with his political legacy.
Speaking in an interview with HGPTV News, Jagan challenged the PPP’s continued invocation of his father’s name, arguing that its present leadership has failed to live up to the standards Cheddi Jagan represented.
“They rest in the PPP are not like my father, I can tell you that, none of them. They ain’t like my father. They claim to be, but they’re not.”
Jagan went further, accusing the current leadership of failing to follow his father’s political policies.
“And furthermore, they’re not even like my father, but they’re not even following his policy.”
His intervention carries particular weight because Cheddi Jagan remains one of the central figures in the PPP’s history. He was its Founder Leader, led the party from its inception in 1950, and served as President from 1992 until his death in 1997. The PPP has continued to invoke his legacy as part of its political identity.
Joey Jagan, however, questioned whether that legacy is reflected in the country’s present condition.
He recalled promises made to him by political leaders, including commitments to provide services outside Georgetown.
“All of you, they came and they gave promises. Like, for example, they’d hold free and free elections. Like, for example, they’d build a civic. Like, for example, they’ll do this and they’ll do that. They’ll set up a passport office in Berbice and a license office in Berbice and Essequibo.”
He stressed that his expectations were never about personal wealth or privilege.
“All these things were promised to me. Not any material things. I didn’t ask for any mansion or a big piece of land.”
Instead, his criticism focused on the disparity between Guyana’s extraordinary oil wealth, highly publicised development projects and the conditions confronting ordinary citizens.
That contrast is difficult to ignore. Guyana’s oil revenues have expanded dramatically since production began in December 2019. Bank of Guyana figures showed cumulative inflows from profit oil, royalties and signature bonuses had reached approximately US$9.73 billion by April 2026, including US$8.04 billion in profit oil and US$1.23 billion in royalties.
Yet poverty remains a major concern. A 2025 Inter-American Development Bank report has been cited as estimating that 58 percent of Guyanese live in poverty and 32 percent in extreme poverty. The figures are based on a higher poverty threshold than older World Bank estimates, and Guyana’s last household survey was conducted in 2019. The IMF has consequently stressed the need for regular household surveys and improved statistics to better measure poverty and distributional trends.
Local analysts and commentators have argued that the true level of hardship could be higher, pointing to weaknesses in data collection and the difficulty of capturing informal economic activity and living costs. Claims that citizens may be reluctant to speak openly about their circumstances because of fear of political repercussions remain matters of political commentary rather than independently established statistical fact.
Against that backdrop, Jagan questioned the Government’s development priorities.
“Look at the condition of this country today. Yeah, we got a Marriott. But where’s the good drinking water? Where’s our city going? We got a five-star hotel and a one-star city. What kind of thing is this?”
His criticism goes to the heart of the debate over Guyana’s oil boom: whether rapid economic growth and massive petroleum revenues are producing a corresponding improvement in the everyday lives of citizens.
Jagan also questioned the emphasis on large infrastructure and sporting projects when basic needs remain unmet.
“We got a stadium. We got this and we building this and we building that, and our kids don’t even have buses to drive to school, to carry them to school.”
He added:
“No lunches for all four kids.”
The remarks echo concerns raised by critics who question whether Guyana’s unprecedented oil income is being translated into sufficiently broad improvements in living standards.
Jagan’s intervention is therefore more than a criticism of individual projects. It is a challenge to the PPP’s claim to the political inheritance of Cheddi Jagan.
His central argument is stark: a government cannot simply invoke Cheddi Jagan’s name; it must demonstrate through policy and results that it shares his commitment to ordinary citizens.
For Joey Jagan, the test of the PPP’s legacy is not the number of hotels, stadiums or major projects constructed.
It is whether Guyanese have clean water, functioning public services, opportunities for their children and a meaningful share of the extraordinary wealth being generated from beneath their feet and offshore waters.
And on that measure, his message to today’s PPP leadership is unmistakable:
“You know, because the rest of me ain’t like my father.”
