President Irfaan Ali yesterday defended his association with the United States-sanctioned Mohameds and the use of their bulletproof vehicle during his presidential campaign in 2020 saying he does not believe this paved the way for their alleged wrongdoings nor is he compromised.
“Guyana is a small country… there is no one in this room who can tell me they don’t know the Mohameds… all the banks were associated with the Mohameds. All of the major businesses might have been associated with the Mohameds. The Mohameds have been in business … long before I was born,” he said to questions posed by Stabroek News at a press conference at State House.
The President said that he is not only now claiming to know the Mohameds as he has said this before and that he had known the men from since boyhood school days. “I made [it] very clear that I know the Mohameds. I went to Saints [Saints Stanislaus College]. We met on Fridays [Salatul-Jumu‘ah – the special noon service for Muslims] at the top [of Mohamed’s Enterprise] where there was a mosque… I am not going to deny that I don’t know the Mohameds. Every single leader knows the Mohameds. They were in business since I was a child. Every single leader knows the Mohameds, historically and now. Does that reduce our judgement on anything?” he added.
Ali asserted that neither the Mohameds, nor any other person he knows, is given preferential treatment nor does this change his stance that the rule of law applies to everyone. “I said the rule of law is the rule of law and must apply equally to every citizen and that is all I want. There is no agenda.”
Addressing concerns raised about his use of the bulletproof SUV owned by the Mohameds which he utilised during the 2020 elections campaign, he disclosed that he was advised by his security team that he needed a safe vehicle because of heightened exposure to threats he had received.
He said that the day of his swearing-in was the last day he used the vehicle and henceforth security was provided by the Office of the President.
“In relation the vehicle that was used…. was used during my election campaign after my security apparatus advised me that I needed a safe vehicle because of the distance I was traversing and the dangers, in their assessment, the threat I was exposed to. I didn’t hide it. I didn’t drive in a tunnel. It was open and transparent. I didn’t to use after I got into office,’ he stated.
To perceptions that his association with the now-sanctioned men paints him as being compromised, he dismissed this and the conflict of interest criticisms. “I am not compromised and I would not be compromised in any way, shape or form. Not me!” he declared.
Last year, following a Reuters article that the Mohameds were being investigated by the US and that that country had asked ExxonMobil to discontinue doing business with the local businessmen, Presi-dent Ali had said that it was just allegations and that the US had not notified him about any such investigations.
Yesterday, he denied being shocked or feeling in any way negative that this country was left in the dark with regard to the allegations. He reminded that intelligence-gathering operations are covert and everyone knows this “otherwise it would be a public investigation.”
Ali repeated that his government had asked the US for information leading to the sanctions and that it plans to act on those and do its own investigations with respective agencies here.
Last year, when asked if the allegations would impact the friendship between him and the Mohammeds, the President had said, “These are just allegations not prevailing facts.”
He also did not discuss the continuing friendship, but said that investigations will be carried out impartially.
