Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson has written to Chief Executive Officer of the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDPADA-G) Olive Sampson requesting the organisation’s financial records no later than September 5, 2022.
In a letter, dated August 31, 2022, Ramson told Sampson that the Ministry has an overarching public responsibility to ensure that public funds received by any entity are spent according to the intended objective.
“The firm position of the Ministry is that the intended objective of the public funds allocated to IDPADA-G is for the benefit and empowerment of as many Afro-Guyanese as possible. The recent disclosures, publications, and public statements have provided the basis for the Ministry to have grave concerns which require closer examination by the Ministry,” the letter stated.
It further added “…the Ministry requests for a copy of all financial records including, but not limited to, payment vouchers, payroll, contracts, and receipts for all monies spent for the fiscal years from 2018 to the present date. Submission of the foregoing along with an index of all documents are requested by 5th September 2022.”
The letter comes on the heels of allegations by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo that IDPADA-G has misused monies received. Jagdeo accused IDPADA-G’s founding members of using the Afro-Guyanese community for personal benefit. “Find out how much of the money [IDPADA-G receives] goes to normal Afro-Guyanese,” he told reporters while claiming that since its founding it had received a total of $468 million from the government to promote the economic advancement and empowerment of Afro-Guyanese.
However, Co-founder Vincent Alexander said founders are not beneficiaries of the not-for-profit company. He also said that founding members of IDPADA-G are volunteers and do not benefit from the company.
While IDPADA-G is not generally funded to provide grants, he added, in 2018, the company received $10 million from the Ministry of Finance for grants to be distributed among Afro-Guyanese. This was largely distributed in 2018 and 2019.
IDPADA-G’s Chief Executive Officer Sampson, at a previous press conference, had said that projects are being undertaken by the company in areas such as capacity building, tuition assistance and scholarships, entrepreneurial skills training and development, youth development, flood relief survey, COVID-19 and humanitarian assistance and the preservation and teaching of African history.
For capacity building-related projects, IDPADA-G spent $22,386,555 in 2018; $44,324,848 in 2019, and $11,762,671 in 2020, she noted. For tuition assistance/ scholarships at the secondary and tertiary levels, she said $1,879,036 was spent in 2018, $2,083,751 in 2019, and $1,846,140 in 2020, while for re-opening of night schools closed after August 2020, some $3,048,000 was spent.
Alexander, through his attorney, has given Jagdeo until September 3 to apologise for the statements or he will face legal action.
In December 2013, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2015 to 2024 to be the International Decade for People of African Descent with the objective of strengthening national, regional and international action and cooperation in relation to the full enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights by people of African descent and their full and equal participation in all aspects of society. Additionally, it is intended to promote a greater knowledge of and respect for the diverse heritage, culture and contribution of people of African descent to the development of societies as well as strengthen frameworks for the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination.
Its theme is “People of African descent: recognition, justice and development”.
IDPADA-G, according to its website, was set up to craft the Guyana plan for the International Decade for people of African Descent in keeping with the provisions of the UN’s resolution inclusive of mechanisms for implementing, superintending, monitoring the plan as may be deemed necessary. IDPADA-G says that it is an assembly of African organizations and its general assembly is made up of one representative from each of the registered organizations. The organization consists of the General Assembly, a Coordinating Council, a Secretariat and Sub-committees.
Former President David Granger had started the funding for IDPADA-G in 2018. The organization’s objectives include expanding Afro-Guyanese share in the economy; increasing access to training and employment opportunities; restoring excellence in education, ensuring equity, justice and the respect of human and civil rights; demanding reparations; and the preservation of Afro-Guyanese history and culture. It is unclear what arrangements were made for the auditing of the expenditure.
