47 days left for your finger

Jul 16, 2025 News

---

By Glenn Lall in his own words

Kaieteur News – The amount of gold, timber, bauxite, and manganese we sitting on in this land could lift not just Guyana, but this whole Caribbean region out of poverty within two years.

Then came the unprecedented oil discovery, the largest ever found in this hemisphere. Not me said that, that exact phrase came out the mouth of the oil giant of this world, ExxonMobil themselves.

“Let me use the word unprecedented… the pace at which we are developing in a country, that I think you all understand, has very little industrial and major infrastructure…that is truly impressive,” (Routledge, April 2022)

Let that sink in your heads: with just 50% of that oil managed properly, every single one of the ¾ million Guyanese could be living better than the people of Dubai, Norway, or Qatar. But what we living with instead? Blackouts, bad roads, broken hospitals, and belly-gripping bills.

Now let’s line up these traitors, the parasites, one by one, and deal with them like how Guyanese supposed to deal with sellouts:

First in line: The PNC and AFC.

Oil was discovered under their watch. And for five long years, they held power, but not one proper press conference was ever held to inform or update the Guyanese people about what was discovered and what was there for us, the citizens.

Joseph Harmon had promised to assemble an oil team and address the nation four times at separate press conferences. The PNC left office, and nothing came. Now the new Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, in all his grand speeches, has never once held a press conference dedicated to the oil sector. Not even a whisper about renegotiating the deal. All you hear from him is when he goes into office he will talk to Exxon.

And as for the AFC — hear this joke — the new leader Nigel Hughes, the same man whose law firm helped sign away the oil, is now saying: “When I become president, I will put an oil team together to manage that oil and stay out.”

Next is the PPP.

President Irfaan Ali, when in opposition sat comfortably and told this nation, he will review and renegotiate that oil contract. Five years in office, and never held a press conference to address this unprecedented oil treasure, discovered in his own country. Not a single press conference. Not a single update. Not a single clause in that contract has changed to benefit Guyanese. You hear that? Nothing.

Then we have the real puppet master, President Ali man a business, Bharrat Jagdeo.

The man who also promised when in opposition to fix the oil contract. Instead, he made it worse for Guyana. He gifted Exxon four new oil projects and did not hire any independent oil experts to review those projects costing over US $30 billion. Gifted those four projects with no taxes, no ring-fencing, no proper audits, no meters at the pumps. No petroleum commission in place, did not cap the interest rates on that $30 billion, all that he did and collecting the same 2% royalty. This man didn’t renegotiate. He reinforced the highway robbery on all of us.

And guess what? He too has never faced this nation in a press conference to account to us, the rightful owners of this trillion-dollar treasure beneath our waters. When he is asked about those few things I mentioned there just now, he was quick to say, how many times do I have to answer the same questions, I done with that lets move on.

So, let’s call it what it is:

These parasites, from the PNC to the PPP to the AFC, are not guardians of Guyana’s resources. No, they have become the gatekeepers for the foreign thieves. They are the watchmen and women of the looters, the protectors of the plunderers.

They don’t represent you and me. They represent the companies that bankroll their silence and sponsor their power.

Not one of them has had the courage, or the decency to stand before this nation and declare: “This is what we discovered. This is what it’s worth. And this is how Guyana — me, you, all of us, will benefit.

Not a single word. Just betrayal, sealed with lies, smiles and handshakes.

Now, elections are here, and what’s the new game? they are tripping over themselves to bribe you with crumbs, cash grant. One saying $100,000… the other shouting, I will do better than that. Let me break that down for the international audience, that $100,000 is less than $500 US dollars, and it’s a one-time cash grant, only for those over 18. Hear that? That’s what these parasites believe Guyanese are worth from the biggest oil discovery in this hemisphere, less than a week of groceries. That’s the disrespect, the insult they coming up with now, yes that is what your vote is worth to them. If you accept that, then you are not just being fooled, you are selling your future, your children’s future, and your grandchildren’s birthright for less than a green, red and yellow tea shirt.

So come September 1st, dip this finger — not for a party, not for a promise, but to demand your worth from that oil. Dip it for a minimum 25% royalty. And if that 25% royalty is not on the ballot paper? Then give them the only finger they truly deserve — the one next to this one. Because this is not just about oil anymore — this is about freedom, about dignity, about whether Guyana will remain a rich land filled with poor people, or finally rise and become a nation where its citizens can live a life that matches their wealth and not like beggars. Enough is enough. Let the roar begin.

---

• Aubrey Norton, Elections, Glenn Lall, PPP

---