HGP Nightly News – With Region 10 still without its full elected leadership almost a year after residents went to the polls, Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed has taken the political stalemate, and allegations that more than 60 workers were fired for skipping a Bharrat Jagdeo event, to the British High Commission.
In a five-page letter dated August 11, Mohamed asked British High Commissioner Joseph Fisher to pay international attention to what he described as threats to democratic governance and workers’ rights.
He called for the immediate reconvening of the Regional Democratic Council’s statutory meeting to complete the elections for Chairman and Vice Chairman.
Mohamed also requested an independent investigation into the alleged dismissal of more than 60 ten-day workers from Coomacka and their reinstatement while the allegations are examined.
“The people voted. Their representatives were elected. Their representatives were sworn in. But the democratic process has not been allowed to reach its conclusion,” he wrote.
Region 10 is reportedly the only one of Guyana’s ten administrative regions still without an elected Chairman and Vice Chairman following the September 2025 General and Regional Elections.
Mohamed blamed former Regional Executive Officer Dwight John, who served as Clerk of the Council, for failing to reconvene the meeting required to complete the process.
“This is not a minor administrative matter,” the Opposition Leader argued. “The existing situation effectively leaves the people of Region 10 without the full regional leadership for which they voted.”
We Invest in Nationhood secured nine of the RDC’s 18 seats at the September 1 elections. APNU won five, the PPP/C three and the Forward Guyana Movement one.
When councillors met on October 10 to elect a Chairman, voting ended in a 9–9 tie between WIN candidate Mark Goring, a former Regional Vice Chairman, and APNU’s Dominique Blair.
WIN alleged that councillors representing APNU, the PPP/C and Forward Guyana had voted together to prevent it from assuming the chairmanship, despite the party holding half of the council’s seats.
The party subsequently argued that the governing legislation required additional rounds of voting and repeatedly called for the statutory meeting to be reconvened.
WIN later reached an agreement with the Forward Guyana Movement that it said would give it enough support to secure the chairmanship.
A new Regional Executive Officer has since been appointed, but the meeting to complete the elections has still not been called.
Mohamed argued that the prolonged delay has weakened the RDC’s ability to oversee roads, drainage, education, healthcare, housing, agriculture, youth development, sport and other regional services.
He also alleged that consultations for the 2027 regional budget had started without the full participation and oversight of the council’s elected leadership.
The letter additionally raised claims that more than 60 ten-day workers at Coomacka lost their jobs six days after an August 4 protest during Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo’s visit to Linden.
According to Mohamed, the workers were informed during an August 10 meeting convened by PPP member Nick Hartman that their services were no longer required.
The affected workers allegedly claimed that they were told the instruction came from the Regional Executive Officer and a representative of the Prime Minister because they had not attended Jagdeo’s engagement at Watooka House.
They further alleged that their presence had been expected to increase the crowd at the government event, although attendance had never been identified as a condition of their employment.
Mohamed also referred to reports that only selected members of the group might be rehired.
Those allegations have not been independently established. No dismissal letters, employment documents or other evidence linking the termination of the workers to Jagdeo’s meeting were included in the account provided.
The government, regional administration, Jagdeo, Hartman and the officials implicated in the allegations had not responded in the information supplied. Their accounts would be necessary to determine why the workers’ services ended and whether political considerations played any role.
Although the letter was addressed to the British High Commissioner, Mohamed also appealed to the United Nations, Organization of American States, Commonwealth, CARICOM, European Union and other international bodies and diplomatic missions.
He asked them to monitor the situation and encourage the government to uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
Among his ten demands were the immediate completion of the RDC elections, full participation by councillors in regional planning and budgeting, an investigation into the alleged dismissals and protection for public employees from political intimidation.
Mohamed also called for the workers to be reinstated during the proposed investigation and for citizens’ rights to peaceful assembly, political expression and political choice to be respected.
There was no indication in the information provided that the British High Commissioner or any of the other international organisations had responded to Mohamed’s appeal.
