“I was never part of any political party” – new APNU candidate Terrence Campbell

Jul 19, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News – Businessman, Terrence Campbell, a new face on the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition’s list of candidates, has clarified that he has never been affiliated with any political party and has not shifted allegiance from one party to another.

Although previously suspected to be affiliated with the Alliance For Change (AFC) during the APNU’s and AFC’s coalition negotiations, Campbell ultimately appeared on the APNU’s nomination list.

Speaking with Kaieteur News on Friday, Campbell emphasised that while he may have maintained friendships across political lines, including with President Irfaan Ali and members of the AFC, he was never officially affiliated with any political party. “I want to clear the air. Over the years, I’ve heard people say I’ve been PPP, I’ve been AFC maybe because I’ve been friends with people in those groups… I was told that the Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo said that I jump ship. I can’t jump from where I never was, I’ve never been a member of any political party,” he explained.

While Campbell admitted to being a supporter of both the AFC and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) in the past, he noted that this is the first time he is formally joining a political movement, that being the APNU coalition. “I’ve been a supporter of parties like the AFC and the PNC, but I’ve never been a member, so there’s no jump in the ship, but I have decided to join the APNU coalition, as an independent civil society,” he said.

Explaining his choice to join APNU over AFC, Campbell said it came down to effectiveness and alignment with his values. “I have absolutely no problem with the AFC.  I share many things philosophically and ideologically with them and they are my friends.… but, the APNU is the biggest opposition force that is currently fighting what I would call the corrupt forces in our politics, and so I think I get the biggest ban for my effort, if I join the biggest force that is fighting those corrupt forces. It would have been beautiful if we were all together, but we’re not, so the biggest ban for my effort, I can see coming from joining the APNU,” he explained.

He further credited APNU’s leader Aubrey Norton for offering him a place to serve. “It was Aubrey Norton in particular, who appointed me to the national resource fund and who has consistently asked me to serve in any future government that he heads for more than two years, so you put all of those, you put those two things together and that’s the main reason that I am supporting APNU,” Campbell stated.

Campbell also shared his views on the current political climate, expressing concern over what he sees as widespread corruption under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). “The PPP has a well-established legacy of corruption. In the last five years, nothing has changed. In fact, the corruption has gotten worse. To my mind, what I see is a single, a party led by one man, Aubrey Norton,  I have never heard anything about corruption with him, right, he has never, as far as I know, been charged with any crimes, I’ve never heard allegations of crimes against him, I’ve never seen anything in relation to corruption against him, right, and to me the APNU,  is the biggest force that’s facing the PPP and the other big parties,  and so the choice is clear for me, where else  I’m going to go?,” he shared.

As a candidate, Campbell believes his 40 years of business experience, combined with his integrity and educational background, have positioned him to positively impact both the APNU and the nation. “I bring integrity, and I bring an understanding through both my education and experience of what it will take to develop Guyana along sustainable lines, not the nonsense that we see while spending going on, you know, roads built today, destroyed tomorrow, and you know, wasting money onboard,” he said.

On social issues, Campbell identified education as the foundation for addressing crime, domestic violence, and other societal challenges. “I think we have got to go back to education. If we fix education, we can fix a lot of those social ills. We need to return to education as the basis of development. Right now, we’re failing as many as 65% of our young people and herein lies the answer for the crime situation. Herein lies the answer for the incivility that we have. Herein lies the answer for some of our domestic violence. We have to broaden the curriculum and stop making it so much of a road blur, and start to address with our children,” he said.”

He also advocated for adult education and nationwide childcare programmes stating, “We’ve got to bring more parents because too many parents are not given their children enough attention and so on, maybe nationwide child care.  Not just when you drop off the children, but where they’re being taught something from cradle to university.”

When asked why he chose now to enter the political arena, Campbell responded “I see massive corruption. Yes, there is economic growth, but there is no real development. This is the most consequential election I’ve seen in my 60 years. It’s an election for the return of the rule of law and for integrity in government. I feel it’s my duty — as someone who has benefited from Guyana — not to sit on the fence, but to get involved and help correct what’s going wrong.”

Campbell emphasised that this is not just about politics for him, but about legacy and responsibility. “I don’t want the election to come and go, and then I look back and say, ‘Oh my God, I should have done more.’”

Now officially entering the political arena, Campbell explained to this newspaper his reasons for stepping forward at this time. “I see massive corruption. Yes, there is economic growth, but there is no real development. With the majority, things are going to get much worse. We’ve seen the weaponisation of police force, the weaponisation of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) against citizens,” he said

“This election is about restoring the rule of law. It’s an election for the return of folks with integrity to government.  It’s an election for the development, to move from a part of growth to a part of development. There’s so much at stake in this election. And it’s my role, I think, I have a duty, a duty in this election, as someone who has benefited so much from Guyana, not to sit on the fence, but to get involved and play my part in correcting some of these deals.

And I don’t want the election to come and go, and then I look at the results and say, oh my God, I should have done more.”

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• AFC, APNU, Elections, political party, Terrence Campbell

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