What false promises would accompany Granger for 2020 presidential run?

Dear Editor,
With the issue of the elections proclamation, presidential candidate David Granger has to face his ‘promise kept’ problem. Mr Granger made a lot of promises in 2015 and did not keep most; he did promise a ‘good life’ and some are living that for sure, but those are Ministers and cronies, I doubt that the electorate will see the 50% salary increase as a promise kept. What then can we expect from Granger in the 2019/20 campaign?

The country has been plastered with snippets of PPP manifesto information: 50 thousand new jobs, reverse the 200 new taxes and get the money flowing again, low-cost house lots, Government support for single parents, cash grants for schoolchildren and other promises are boldly declared. The PPP can do this because many of these promises are reversals of Granger’s policies that have caused hardships, 30 thousand jobs were lost under the Granger regime, and the cash grants to schoolchildren were already a feature of life. The PPP has a plan to return to parity before kicking on with progress.

Granger cannot promise a return to parity, as that would be an admission of great failure and Granger has a history of making promises that are not backed by planning. The adage ‘failing to prepare is to prepare to fail’ applies, but even when plans are prepared, Granger was not able to execute at a high level, the Jubilee celebrations fell flat and were clouded as the D’Urban Park project was mired in corruption— 600 million is still to be accounted for according to the Auditor General’s report. The CJIA expansion project is suffering the same fate, a fixed-price contract was renegotiated and instead of a new airport terminal, we have a renovated building, fewer air-bridges and inexplicably at USD $30 million higher cost. Every foot of road paved seems to come with a higher than normal bill, a scaled kickback scheme along the Mr 10% lines.

Granger cannot sell himself as an anti-corruption candidate this time around, after failing to find evidence of corruption in 40 forensic audits of PPP-administered ministries and agencies, any corruption he promises to fight will be of his administration’s doing. Granger knows the taint of corruption hangs heavily in almost every ministry and department of Government. The Attorney General’s Chambers has settled matters for billions of taxpayers’ dollars on a simple demand note, the GRA gave DDL a $3.8 billion tax write-off, which has led to Banks DIH suing the GRA for $28.4 billion as they demand equal consideration and this demand covers only one period, it could end up costing 80 billion when all is said and done. Cathy Hughes gave her company contracts, Valerie Patterson gave her husband contracts, GL&SC engaged in the distribution of over 20,000 acres of prime state lands to Granger’s cronies and Ministry of the Presidency employees. David Patterson’s explanation of how US$9000 was deposited into his account defies ethics, norms, and logic. Simona Broomes’ children were given direct cash transfers from the Ministry of the Presidency totalling over $20 million, the corruption scandals roll on and on. Faced with these acts of corruption and ethical violations, David Granger did nothing but shuffle his pack; his silence speaks of approval or acquiescence. Granger the corruption fighter will not fly.

Can we see Granger, the staunch advocate for rule of law surface? Would the only President in our history to be cited by the courts as acting in breach of the Constitution try such an audacious bluff? Would the President who allowed a challenge to be made on the basis that 33 was not a majority of 65 even consider running on a law and rrder platform?

Can a President who issued a Prerogative of Mercy to his Finance Minister to keep him out of jail even contemplate such a move? Stranger things have happened in the silly season, but any move like this would invite ridicule from all quarters.

Granger the security expert may surface; however, he may not be able to call on British Senior Security Sector Reform Advisor, Mr Russell Combe, who served as his advisor. Relations with the UK have rather broken down since Granger has moved away from the rule of law (see above) and a system of parliamentary democracy. Guyanese are less safe than we have ever been, crime ranging from petty theft to murder have proliferated since 2015. Nowhere is safe, schoolchildren are held up at gunpoint, home invasions and murders are commonplace and store owners live in fear of ‘customers’. The establishment of a Venezuelan homestead on Guyanese soil is an error that may yet blow up in our faces literally. We can do without Granger’s security ‘expertise’, the plethora of attendance and completion certificates non-withstanding.

The Auditor General’s reports delivered to Parliament on the 30th September 2019 are of great interest to the people of the nation; if/when Parliament comes out of recess, these reports will have to be laid and made public for examination by the people’s representatives. There have been no audited reports for NICIL or GuySuCo since 2015. The $30 billion GuySuCo bond is being frittered away without any of the capitalisations of projects being undertaken; no routine expenses are being paid from the bond, the location and allocation of bond funds remain mysteries that the AG’s reports may shed light upon. Granger ‘the transparency advocate’ will not fly.

David Granger visited the Amerindian village of Pakuri, or as he insensitively referred to it “St Cuthbert’s Mission”. Mr Granger was accompanied by a large contingent of heavily armed policemen in addition to his praetorian guard. Granger, the ‘Man of the People’, will not fly.

The arrest of social media guru Alston Stewart on his way to Guyana is a blow to the Mark Kirton team working out of the Bertram Collins campus. This team is currently bombarding the populace with ads containing glorious tales of the Brigadier and Mrs Granger as they save the world for snails and whales— with ads of roads yet to be built as a ‘promise kept’. The harsh economic reality precludes belief in such delusions no amount of sponsored ads will fool Guyanese into voting for the incompetent incumbent.

Editor, the tale of the Granger administration is one of lavish lifestyles: jet setting’ high salaries, plenty perks, abuse of power, little work and corruption with impunity, corruption on a super large scale that defies belief. Mr Granger has a credibility problem that cannot be solved with slogans and jingles; Granger’s lack of ability to govern effectively has been thoroughly exposed and he has no leg left upon which to stand before the populace and proclaim his worthiness to be President of the Republic ever again.

The PPP is carefully rolling out its manifesto which contains the plans behind the promises, for should they let it out carelessly, it will be grabbed by Granger’s APNU/AFC and touted as their own; after all, the CJIA as an International hub, Guyana as an oil producing country, the Marriott as a centre for commercial tourism and conferences, a bridge over the Berbice river, a paved road from Georgetown to Lethem— those were all whose ideas and projects again? I cannot wait to see how Granger manifests himself for the 2020 presidential run and what false promises accompany him.

Respectfully,
Robin Singh