A submission by the Chairman of the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDPADA-G), Vincent Alexander, to a United Nations forum that Afro-Guyanese continue to be systematically marginalized, is not sitting well with Attorney General Anil Nandlall.

During his weekly “Issues in the News” broadcast last evening, Mr. Nandlall fired off at Mr. Alexander, saying that his contributions at the forum were flawed and misleading.

When Mr. Alexander addressed the 4th Session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Monday afternoon, he said the  current Guyana Government has taken no equitable action to address the state of people of African descent in the country.

But Mr. Nandlall differs from that position, and stated that the Afro-Guyanese are now better off under his Government.

“If a forensic audit is ever done, it will reveal that Afro-Guyanese, currently are better off than they have ever been in the history of Guyana, and I say that without any fear of being contradicted successfully and I invite any debate to this effect and you can start on education, more afro- Guyanese are perusing education now, than any other point in time in Guyana’s history,” Mr. Nandlall observed.

To solidify his point, the Attorney General pointed to more Afro-Guyanese now receiving cash grants and other forms of welfare grants from the Government.

He said the State has also created the environment for Afro-Guyanese to have their own house lots and properties.

Mr. Nandlall said, both the PPP and APNU+AFC have been in power during the UN declared International Decade for People of African Descent from 2015–2024. He said by comparison, the PPP has done more to advance the decade.

“Why did he not tell the United Nations that half of the decade his party was in government and outline to the United Nations what his party did for afro- Guyanese, that is what him and those with him should have done at the United Nations,” Nandlall noted.

It was the current PPP Government that discontinued the annual subventions to IDPADA-G. The Government has instead doled out funding to other smaller Afro-Guyanese organisations, with many of them being newly formed with close ties to the Government.

Mr. Nandlall also took issue with Mr. Alexander telling the forum that ancestral lands are being disposed in Guyana.

The Attorney General argued that the concept of ancestral lands has only emerged here recently. However, he said government has taken steps to regularize many of those historical ancestral villages.

“Today, our government is regularizing Ann’s Grove, a slave village without title, they have ben living there for 440 years, so all the families there will get transport before the end of this year, 440 families there will be regularized under this government—our government and they are afro-Guyanese,” Nandlall stated.

The UN Forum on People of African Descent is ongoing at the United Nations. Guyana’s Minister of Labour, Joe Hamilton is representing the Government at the meeting.

Related posts:

IDPADA-G informs UN Forum of “systematic marginalization” of Afro-Guyanese; Calls for justice and equality IDPADA-Guyana calls on UN to provide direct funding to country organizations IPADA-G tells UN Forum that Afro-Guyanese are subjected to systemic discrimination and injustices in Guyana IDPADA-G sees recently announced money for Afro-organisations as separate from its subvention