Another AFC stalwart bites the dust –for committing the most cardinal of sins
THE exodus from the AFC continues as another AFC Executive member and former General Secretary, Mr. Sixtus Edwards has resigned with immediate effect from the Party. It is anyone’s guess why he resigned at this crucial point in time.Mr. Edwards was with the AFC since its conception in 2005, and has worked assiduously to build the Party from scratch. He maintained and built a data-base of members, and ensured that the membership of the Party continued to grow.
He is respected by all as a no-nonsense individual of integrity and self-respect that is par excellence, but his cardinal sin was that he dared to call for financial accountability within the AFC, much to the chagrin of the AFC cabal led by Ramjattan.
I was there at the 2012 AFC Conference where he spoke openly and without fear of the need for financial accountability, and for all monies to be deposited in a bank account to be disbursed only when such disbursement is authorised by the Finance Committee. He always complained about ‘a one-man Finance Committee’, and the deliberate violation of the Party’s Constitution.
Little did he realise that the AFC’s rigging machinery was in process as he was giving his report, and that that would be his final presentation as the General Secretary. David Patterson, the relative of one of the Founding Leaders, was already selected by AFC’s ‘fat cats’ to replace him.
Mr. Edwards was also the head of the inquiry into the alleged malpractices of Dr. Ramayya with regards to Party funds during the 2011 Elections campaign; and he found that Dr. Ramayya was guilty and should be disciplined. However, the Leader of the AFC declared at a press conference that the entire episode was one of ‘misunderstanding and miscommunication’. They did not touch Ramayya, because they knew that they were in the same boat; so they cannot rock the boat. Mr. Edwards was not even aware of this development until he saw it in the press.
Many persons, including executive members, have moved away from the AFC, as the AFC has moved away from all its founding principles; violated its own Constitution and condoned corruption, cronyism, mismanagement and misappropriation of donations, and many will continue to do so. Moreover, they have witnessed the treacherous and unpatriotic nature of the AFC when they joined with APNU to stymie social and economic progress in this country with their nefarious budget cuts and their continued unyielding support of the APNU, to the point of forming a coalition; a coalition proposed by the AFC!
Many persons who voted for them will not forgive them for their treachery; it was one of the founding principles that the AFC will remain independent. It has been the modus operandi of the AFC that anyone who challenges their wrongdoings will either be side-lined until they resigned, or be expelled from the Party. It is a surprise that Mr. Edwards took so long to make this inevitable decision; but he is always a person who deliberates well.
HASEEF YUSUF
AFC Councillor (Region 6)