Latest update March 1st, 2026 12:40 AM
APNU reiterates concerns over transparency issues in Budget 2026
(Kaieteur News) – A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is accusing the ruling Peoples Progressive Party (PPP/C) of what it considers to be “governance by concealment” making specific reference to sections of the 2026 National Budget.
APNU’s Member of Parliament (MP) Sherod Duncan on Friday gave a detailed breakdown of some of the instances glaring limitations were revealed during the budget debates and examination of the estimates.
Member of Parliament (MP) for the party Sherod Duncan
Duncan told reporters at the party’s weekly press conference that it has become unmistakably clear that “during the 2026 Budget Estimates review in the National Assembly that corruption under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic is not episodic. It is systemic. It is historic. It is present. If left unchecked, it will define the future governance of our Republic.”
The MP explained that the parliamentary review process exposed a troubling pattern of financial irregularities, unexplained allocations, reports unaccounted for and deliberate opacity in the management of billions of dollars in public funds.
“This is not administrative oversight. This is governance by concealment,” he said while pointing to the government’s Men on Mission programme. Duncan highlighted that the programme in the current fiscal year received $900M in budgetary allocations but noted that no reports were laid in the National Assembly for 2023, 2024 and 2025.
He said when the government was questioned, the explanation was that the absence of the reports was an “unfortunate error”. The MP is arguing that in any system that has accountable management of public finances, three years in succession would constitute a “governance crisis”.
Duncan said that, “Under this administration, it is dismissed as routine. Transparency and performance monitoring are not optional in a G$900 million programme. The absence of documentation in the face of persistent allegations of corruption only heightens suspicion.”
The APNU representative also turned his attention to a guard hut at Mahaicony which has been already completed but funds were allocated for in the 2026 budget. This he said is either an act of gross misconduct or the deliberates padding of the estimates. He submitted that completed infrastructure making repeated appearances this way as a new budget item, speaks to systematic breakdowns when it comes to the tracking of projects, as well as the verification of expenditure.
The Ministry of Agriculture, which has over the years had its fair share of transparency issues, “admitted that although G$650 million has been allocated to the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Agricultural Development Authority, only G$1.7 million is earmarked to service G$7.9 million owed in rates and taxes to the Union/Naastigheid NDC. This represents fiscal strangulation of local government organs by central authority. When the central government underfunds statutory obligations to local democratic bodies, it undermines decentralised governance.”
Duncan pointed too to the $500M allocation to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs for the construction of a new two-storey hostel. He noted that no detailed plans of what the building should look like only a sketch that was used to determine the cost of the building.
He warned that this poses a risk of cost overruns, stalled execution and future supplemental requests, as infrastructure without finalised technical documentation reflects disregard for procurement discipline.
APNU vows to continue highlighting discrepancies in the hope that taxpayers can get value for their dollar.
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