Introduction
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo – in one of the government’s most egregiously constitutional violations – announced at his weekly press conference at the PPP/C’s headquarters that the government has no intention to seek parliamentary approval for the already bungled cash payout of oil money to Guyanese at home and abroad.
Article 217 of our Constitution could not be more precise in its requirements: no moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund except through proper legislative authorisation. This is not mere bureaucratic red tape – it represents the fundamental barrier between democratic governance and autocratic rule. When Jagdeo dismisses these requirements as inconvenient obstacles to “government flexibility,” he is not just expressing an administrative preference but advocating for dismantling vital constitutional provisions and safeguards against financial abuse.
A public declaration by the Vice President that the Government will ignore this vital constitutional provision in the distribution of over sixty billion dollars or nearly three hundred million United States dollars without legislative authority and parliamentary oversight represents more than just administrative overreach – it signals a dangerous drift toward autocratic governance that should alarm every Guyanese citizen. President Ali’s apparent acquiescence to this constitutional subversion is more troubling, marking a profound failure in his primary duty as guardian of our Constitution.
Resource Curse
This cavalier disregard for the constitutional Framework invites comparisons with many third-world countries that have fallen victim to the Resource Curse. However, we need only look at neighbouring Venezuela to see where profligacy and thoughtless spending lead. In the early years of its oil boom, Venezuela similarly began bypassing legislative oversight for direct disbursements, arguing for “flexibility” in helping its citizens. This erosion of institutional checks and balances contributed significantly to the eventual mismanagement of its oil wealth and the following economic crisis. Remember Guyanese, Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world.
We have forgotten our country’s lesson from the Burnham era, which showed the dangers of concentrated power over national resources. The constitutional provisions Jagdeo now seeks to circumvent were designed to prevent the recurrence of such centralised control over public funds.
The darkening path
This is not the first instance of financial abuse by the Ali administration. In the 2022 Budget, approximately five billion dollars were allocated for contingency relief, a process hitherto unknown in Guyana. Ram & McRae warned at that time that this was just the beginning. Now, we are facing tens of billions more in even looser and larger situations. What started as general grants with weak controls is now evolving into more perilous forms of arbitrary power. We cannot overlook the trend: insufficient oversight over exploiting the country’s national resources is being used to undertake development projects outside the legislative purview. It is evident that every decision and action taken—including spending on programmes and projects—is being executed not through constitutional mechanisms but through executive decree, with no meaningful checks or balances in place.
Mr Jagdeo’s creative justification for resisting Elder Kwayana’s call for legislation to regulate the proposed grant, was that that would create “rigid recurrent expenditures”. That is absolute nonsense, and I do not think that the Vice President himself believes it. It suggests, however, that whatever he thinks, he views constitutional constraints as impediments rather than essential safeguards. This concentration of power in the executive branch, particularly in Jagdeo’s hands, represents a clear and present danger to our democratic institutions. It is time that Guyanese take note.
This is not only about legal and constitutional technicalities. The absence of legislative debate, careful drafting, and parliamentary oversight in these massive cash distributions creates a stream of financial and governance failures. Opposition oversight is dispensed with, and there are no defined procedures for auditors to follow, while public accountability simply does not exist. Perhaps most dangerously, the door opens wide for political manipulation of these distributions, turning what should be national wealth into a tool for political control.
Ali’s duty
We also recall that the decision on the cash grant ostensibly came from President Ali. Since that announcement, however, Jagdeo has jumped into the driver’s seat and has varied Ali’s ideas beyond recognition. By his silence, President Ali, the Head of State and the primary guardian of our Constitution is demonstrating a glaring failure to prevent this overreach, amounting to a dereliction of duty. The President has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, not to stand by while his Vice President systematically undermines it.
President Ali has to show who appointed whom, assert his constitutional role, direct what the process requires, and demand a proper legislative framework for these distributions. The National Assembly must reclaim its rightful oversight role, and civil society must unite in opposition to this dangerous precedent. Our nation’s future hangs in the balance, and silence is no longer an option.
The moment demands action from every citizen, every parliamentarian, and every civil society organisation to stand firm in defense of our Constitution. Our nation’s future depends on it.
