By Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — The multi-pronged opposition onslaught against the executive branch has widened significantly. The main opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), has aggressively dragged President Irfaan Ali’s controversial Soesdyke-Linden Highway land holdings back into the national spotlight, demanding a comprehensive, public disclosure of his private wealth, assets, and liabilities.
The coalition’s intervention follows explosive video exposes published by Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, which alleged that the President’s sprawling, multi-tiered commercial ranch at Long Creek is worth a staggering G$5 billion.
Crucially, APNU has introduced an intense historical dimension to the unfolding scandal. The party pointed out that the current controversy is neither isolated nor politically convenient, reminding the Guyanese public that one of the 19 major fraud-related criminal charges brought against Ali by the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) prior to the 2020 elections explicitly concerned the undervaluation and illegal distribution of state lands along that exact Soesdyke-Linden Highway corridor. Those 19 indictments were systematically discontinued under controversial circumstances immediately after Ali assumed the office of the presidency, shielding him behind constitutional immunity.
“The history of this specific land tract cannot be separated from the current crisis,” an APNU executive statement read. “By examining the past, the Guyanese people can see that questions regarding the President’s acquisition of highway lands have existed for years. This is a pattern, not a new occurrence, and the Head of State can no longer hide behind executive silence.”
The Long Creek Ranch Audit Demands
APNU has formally submitted a list of legal and financial demands to the Office of the President, challenging the state’s narrative of clean hands:
- Beneficial Ownership Clarity: A formal, unredacted declaration stating whether President Ali is the sole beneficial owner, or if corporate proxies are masking alternative stakeholders.
- The $25 Million Lease Mystery: Public verification of reports indicating that the underlying lease arrangement for the massive acreage costs an estimated G$25 million annually, alongside proof of how those payments are financed.
- Income Disparity Reconciliation: An independent audit showing how a public official earning an official state salary of G$3.7 million per month could independently finance a G$5 billion luxury agro-industrial asset.
- Integrity Commission Verification: The immediate, public release of the President’s certified annual asset declarations filed under the Integrity Commission Act.
“The President of this republic has an absolute, uncompromised responsibility to uphold the absolute highest standards of transparency,” APNU argued heavily. “The citizens of Guyana are legally and morally entitled to know exactly how this immense wealth was acquired, and whether it is consistent with his declared, legitimate sources of income as a public servant.”
The coalition contended that in a modern, democratic society experiencing an unprecedented economic boom, no public official—regardless of their executive rank or political office—should ever be shielded from rigorous public and judicial scrutiny. APNU maintained that full disclosure would instantly remove growing public doubts, strengthen fractured confidence in state institutions, and demonstrate a genuine, verified commitment to good governance.
With both APNU and the Mohamed family squeezing the administration from alternative angles, the pressure is mounting on the Head of State to provide a detailed, itemized breakdown of his agricultural empire. As political tensions across the capital reach a boiling point, civil society groups are warning that nothing short of a transparent, independent international audit will satisfy a public increasingly cynical of executive enrichment.
