Minister Rodrigues, Pres. Ali, and assets

Jan 14, 2026 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard Truths by GHK Lall

(Kaieteur News) – It is a positive development that embattled PPP Government Minister Susan Rodrigues took her asset portfolio to Pres. Irfaan Ali.  According to a Demerara Waves article dated Jan 11. 2026, the president has accepted the minister’s explanation on her asset accumulation.  Appearance wise, this is encouraging.  But is it convincing?

Personally speaking, Pres. Ali may not be the best judge of explanations offered relative to what appears to be a complex asset mix.  However, the step that the minister took and the where the president stands reek of circling wagons.  Peering below the covering leaves everyone looking poorer.  I must say that there is a different way of doing certain business in this country.

 

For who is Pres. Ali in the capacity of expert asset examiner, and tracker of how those came about?  Firstly, he is a government leader dealing with a besieged government minister.  Things get muddier and shakier from here.  If the president had impressed as having the soundest judgment, the most balanced eye, and the most unfettered considerations, I would quickly say that he is the man for the circumstances, and his acceptance of Minister Rodrigues’ explanation is persuasive, has no loose ends.  Regrettably, the president record now denounces him.

One example: on access to information, what is provided for by law, something dear to the heart of Dr. Irfaan Ali, the leader was proud, more or less, to wash his hands and keep a safe distance from what is uncomplicated and straight as the new Bharat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge.  If the president as the Chief Minister and Chief Tribune in the land felt uncompelled to intervene and order the Commissioner of Information to deliver, pursuant to law, then he lost standing and priceless credibility in my book.

What adjudicator can he be?  If the president is unavailable and unengaged for something as damaging as access to information thwarted or denied (and even laffed at), then I submit that he, Dr. Irfaan Ali, would encounter an inordinate amount of difficulty to think straight, see straight, and pronounce straightly, on the acceptability of Minister Rodrigues’ portfolio and explanations. For emphasis, access to information was much simpler, and Pres Ali faltered terribly.

It perplexes, therefore, as to how he could be looked upon as a clear-eyed and clean-spirited arbiter in the matter of Minister Rodrigues and her asset portfolio accumulation, which has its complexities.  Bluntly, what the president did with and for the minister reads like one of those Guyana Police Force investigations of itself.  More bluntly, Minister Rodrigues’ matter does not call for political eyes.  It demands a reputable independent mind to delve into her situation, and issue a report on the threads, connections, and overall findings.  But that’s water under the bridge.

A second example from the president’s own book of business leaves him looking more worn and torn, rather than wise and in full command of his thinking facilities.  This distorted and deformed Leader of the Opposition business has taken centerstage pushing ranking foreign diplomats to contribute.  No self-respecting national leader would allow that nasty piece of business to linger, while pretending to be above or outside the fray.  It is not just a poor reflection on democracy and his government.

It casts a dark shadow over claims to bright leadership and being a man in tune with his times.  Or one sensitive to the political temperatures prevailing and how they create unnecessary tensions in what is hailed as democratic space.  If something as ordinary as parliamentary doors flinging open, and the Speaker springing into action, cannot flow smoothly under Pres. Ali’s watch, then I think that the Susan Rodrigues complex of concerns may be beyond his capacity.  Perhaps, even when he is fully focused, defiantly committed to giving the minister a clean bill of health, while doing justice by Guyanese.

With these two examples sticking like sharp thumbs in the eyes, minds, of Guyanese, the president has failed citizens when they looked to him for resolutions.  He disappoints beyond denial or deflection.  Thus, I regret to say that this development of president and minister accompanied by explanation and acceptance doesn’t help Ms. Rodrigues.  It harms her, for it gives the appearance of seeking a political solution to an alleged unethical condition.  It’s just that Pres. Ali’s word, judgement, acceptance lack weight.  To reject Minister Rodrigues’ explanation would confirm that the PPP Government is corrupt.  To accept means the matter is as good as dead.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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• Assets, GHK Lall, PPP Government, Susan Rodrigues

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