GEORGETOWN – VPAC is warning that Guyana’s national agenda is slipping off course, arguing that the country has become fixated on the ongoing case involving businessman Azruddin Mohamed while urgent social and economic issues are being pushed aside.
In a statement on Monday, VPAC said the “daily drumbeat of headlines” has created the impression that Guyana has no other problems to confront. “One man has taken over the national conversation,” the group said. “Meanwhile, the real challenges facing ordinary Guyanese continue without attention.”
VPAC stressed that Mohamed has already been charged, placed on bail, and remains available to authorities while the matter proceeds through the courts. “There is due process. The case is active. Nothing about this requires the level of national obsession we’re seeing,” the group argued.
According to VPAC, the country risks losing sight of pressing concerns in education, agriculture, and household welfare. “Our schools still need help. Farmers are struggling. Families are worried about rising costs ahead of the holidays,” the statement continued.
“Young entrepreneurs, especially single mothers and young women, still have no clear access to financing. These issues affect thousands of people, yet they are barely part of the conversation.”The organisation also raised concerns about unresolved national security matters, including the investigation into the gas-station bombing.
“A serious act of terror shocked this country, and we still don’t have clear answers,” VPAC noted. “But it has been pushed off the front page as if it no longer matters.” VPAC said the timing is even more troubling given that the 13th Parliament took nearly the entire four months allowed by the Constitution before convening.
“That delay should never become normal,” the group stated. When Parliament finally met, VPAC noted that “only one opposition group came prepared with substantive motions. The others seemed distracted or caught up in political theatre.”
According to the organisation, this is exactly what it warned about weeks ago: that the constant spotlight on Mohamed would distort national priorities. “The concern was never personal,” VPAC said. “It was whether the noise surrounding his legal issues would crowd out governance. And that is exactly what has happened.”
VPAC is urging the Government, the full Opposition, civil society, and the media to “restore balance” and refocus attention on the country’s broader needs. “Let the courts handle the case,” the statement said. “Guyana cannot afford a national agenda driven by distraction.”
