Independence cannot exist with Guyanese in economic bondage – Ram

May 24, 2026 News

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…cites control of foreign entities of country’s oil, gold and other resources 

(Kaieteur News) – “A country has no claim to economic transformation, let alone Independence, if its citizens remain marginal to the strategic core of its most profitable industry. Where is the independence when our country exports its natural resources and its children in the same breath?”

This profound message was presented by Chartered Accountant and prominent attorney, Christopher Ram during an address at the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Symposium on Independence, held at the Guyana Teachers Union Hall, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown on May 21.

In opening remarks, Ram quoted the words of then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham, founder-leader of the People’s National Congress on July 15, 1971 who in a Linden address highlighted Guyana’s “political independence” without a “new economy”.

The former President reportedly said, “We achieved political independence on the 26th May, 1966. We got ourselves a new flag. We got ourselves a new outfit. We got ourselves a new wardrobe. But we did not get ourselves a new economy. Our economy continued to be dominated by outsiders, important sectors like bauxite and the financial institutions by non-Guyanese. We Guyanese had no part or lot in the making of vital decisions which could affect our economic progress or retrogression.” 

This address came on the same day Guyana took over the bauxite installations at Linden – placing under Guyanese control, for the first time, a foreign-owned industry that had extracted the nation’s wealth for half a century.

To this end, the newspaper columnist pointed out that from the time Walter Raleigh set sight on what we now know as Guyana, the country has been a story of vast resources and modest returns to its people.

“Gold continues to lure and reward foreigners; sugar helped build an empire and enriches a continent; and bauxite contributed to the industrialization of foreign economies. And now oil has placed Guyana among the most resource-rich territories in the world – yet many Guyanese remain economically insecure,” he explained.

The chartered accountant told attendees of the event that oil now accounts for approximately 88% of Guyana’s exports, meaning that nearly nine of every 10 dollars earned from the rest of the world is controlled by a single consortium, operating under a single agreement that overrides all the country’s tax laws.

While waiving all taxes to the oil companies, he argued that the fastest growing economy in the world still struggles with wages, infrastructure, and migration.

He urged, “Look around. Our gold leaves through channels Guyana itself cannot fully account for, under a royalty regime barely touched in a generation. Bauxite, the very industry over which Burnham acted in 1971, is again under foreign ownership, again negotiated behind closed doors. And now, new chapters. Uranium has quietly become a Guyanese story, with foreign juniors drilling at Kurupung on a deposit measured in tens of millions of pounds – and not one national debate on the framework under which a nuclear-fuel mineral leaves this Republic. Power generation, the most consequential infrastructure decision of this generation, is being shaped through contracts whose terms most Members of Parliament have never seen.”

The lawyer noted that deals in each of these sectors are being finalized, contracts awarded, prices negotiated, and tax laws circumvented. In the meantime, the country’s political leaders remain silent and mesmerised by so-called investors, according to him.

Ram however pointed out, “Leaders of independent states do not watch their country’s wealth being divided, stripped and exported.” The advocate shifted his attention to Guyanese workers in the various extractive sectors, especially the petroleum industry, where employees are paid a fraction of what expatriates earn for similar work while the high-value technical and managerial functions remain dominated by foreigners.

Consequently, Ram stated, “A country has no claim to economic transformation, let alone Independence, if its citizens remain marginal to the strategic core of its most profitable industry…where is the independence when our country exports its natural resources and its children in the same breath?”

Notably, he reasoned that the danger is not the resource, but weak bargaining, institutions, and political leadership – on all sides – and the failure to convert temporary resource wealth into lasting national transformation.

Ram does not believe the country is condemned to such a future, and believes avoiding it will require courage, discipline, and strong national institutions.

He therefore made three bold suggestions and recommendations to the PNCR for a “mature national discussion on the renegotiation of the 2016 Petroleum Agreement,” the establishment of a Petroleum Commission and a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the circumstances surrounding both the 1999 and 2016 Petroleum Agreements.

Ram explained that renegotiation is not hostility to investment but is the legitimate exercise of sovereignty when circumstances make it necessary in the national interest. Regarding the Petroleum Commission, the lawyer said the sector must no longer rest on political direction alone and should be insulated from partisan influence, grounded in transparency and technical competence.

Meanwhile, he suggested that the COI be conducted not as vengeance or political theatre, but as a matter of national accountability.

“Guyana stands at a defining moment. History will not judge us by how much we extracted, but how much came back to us. And by whether ordinary citizens achieved dignity, security, and a fair share in the wealth of their own country.

Let me remind our political leaders that economic independence remains the unfinished business of this Republic – a flag without an economy, as Burnham warned, is no independence at all,” he urged.

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• control, Guyana Independence, natural resources, PNCR, PNCR Independence Symposium, Ram

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