Chairman of the Coordinating Council of the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly – Guyana (IDPADA-G), Vincent Alexander is demanding a public apology and $50M in compensation from Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo for allegedly defaming his character.
In a letter to the Vice President on August 24, 2022, Mr. Alexander, through his Attorney Eusi Anderson, laid out six instances in which he claims Vice President allegedly defamed his character during a press conference on August 19.
During that press conference, Mr. Jagdeo accused Mr. Alexander of having a personal pecuniary interest in the affairs of IDPADA-G, when the latter has never been paid a penny for his service, since it is voluntary.
The Vice President had also contended that Mr. Alexander was part of a group of persons who are “parasites using Afro-Guyanese just for their own personal benefit,” but this too was refuted.
“You specifically referred to him [Alexander] as a parasite which is a most unwholesome description of a man of my client’s ilk and international prestige,” the Legal Counsel told the Vice President.
Mr. Alexander also took issue with Mr. Jagdeo’s contention that IDPADA-G had only disbursed a paltry sum of $343,000 in grants in 2020 from a government subvention totalling $100M, but had utilized $42M for the payment of salaries and allowances.
The claim, according to Mr. Alexander, is malicious.
“The malice here is that a cursory perusal of the public financial records would demonstrate that the GYD$343,000.00 referenced was the residual balance from the 2018 special subvention for grants conferred by the Government on IDPADA-G Inc. Same was brought forward to the 2020 financial statement,” Mr. Anderson explained.
Given what Mr. Anderson describes as “undiluted dishonesty,” Mr. Alexander is demanding that the Vice President issues a public apology and unconditional retraction no later than September 3.
He is also demanding $50M in compensation for the restoration of his name, “having regard to the enormity of the damage inflicted upon it” by Mr. Jagdeo’s defamatory comments. The payment or an acceptable counter-offer ought to be presented no later than September 3.
The Attorney warned the Vice President that failure to act on the demands would trigger the institution of legal proceedings.
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