ALLIANCE For Change (AFC) members in the Diaspora are voicing their concern over the whereabouts of close to $50M they’ve raised in campaign funds, which to date cannot be accounted for. 

According to reliable sources within the AFC, the group feels slighted by several developments within the party that do not augur well for accountability and transparency. The group, reportedly spearheaded by a Berbician, is said to be resolute in its search to uncover the funds, which were allegedly pocketed by members of the AFC’s executive.
“AFC leaders and the rest of them pretend to be the guardian of accountability and transparency, and here it is, in our very own backyard, people are pocketing monies for the party,’’ the source said.
This newspaper understands that previous attempts to raise matters of financial misappropriation within the AFC have been met with cynicism and threats by the leadership.
The AFC has been dogged by several scandals over the last three years, including its link to the ‘cocaine-in-peppersauce’ bust in Canada back in December 2008.
In May, 2012, AFC Region 6 Councillor, Haseef Yusuf blew the whistle about corruption in the AFC camp, accusing that party’s Member of Parliament, Dr. Veerasammy Ramaya of misappropriating some $4.5M of campaign funds in Berbice.
After pressure mounted on the AFC, it announced weeks later that it was desirous of investigating the matter, but to date there has been no word from that party about the corruption scandal involving its MP, Dr. Ramaya.
Dr. Ramaya, who hosts an AFC television programme in Berbice, absented himself from that programme for several weeks, and dodged questions about his involvement in financial misappropriation.
City businessman, Fizal Ali, implicated AFC executive member, Sasenarine Singh, in bribery demands in exchange for releasing flour to him while Singh worked at the National Milling Company, responsible for wholesale distribution.
The businessman was quoted as saying, “In order to get my full quota of flour, Mr. Singh demanded from me $100,000 per week. I used to pay this money weekly to him, in cash, at his home at Third Street, Alexander Village, Georgetown. I was also forced to deliver three bags of flour weekly, free of cost, to his mother, who owned a grocery stall at La Penitence Market. I also purchased for him his first motorcar, a white Honda Accord, at a cost of $450,000. I also financed his studies at the University of Guyana.’’
Singh had threatened to sue over media reports implicating him in bribery demands, but there has been no indication of his ever pursuing legal action against the businessman or any media outlet for their reports.
AFC Chairman and Attorney-at-law, Khemraj Ramjattan, was also implicated in several scandals in which clients accused him of swindling them, the latest being an amputee pensioner, Mr. Michael Taharally, and his wife, Veronica DaSilva, who publicly accused Ramjattan of swindling them in an estate dispute case in which he had been hired to represent their interests.
One Prakash Persaud has also publicly accused both Raphael Trotman and Khemraj Ramjattan of fraudulent acts, for which he took them before the Bar Association. Added to the cook-up of alleged corrupt acts is a medley of accusations directed against AFC Chairman, Nigel Hughes.
The recent NACTA poll has indicated a dwindling in support for the AFC; so one can understand that party’s dithering on national issues to make itself relevant in the political spectrum.
But the National Assembly is a forum to deal with issues of national importance and not merely being a platform for political opportunism and self-aggrandizement.
Sooner or later, the electorate will be able to tell the charlatans from the leaders who genuinely have their best interests at heart.

extracted from the Guyanachronicle