Guyana Development Bank – what’s coming

Jun 24, 2026 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

Hard Truths by GHK Lall

(Kaieteur News) – The Guyana Development Bank (GDB) has generated much excitement. Not yet fully airborne, but still stirring considerable interest. Guyanese sit, wait, smile. They are ready. One set anticipates what’s in it for them. To get them off the bottom. Other Guyanese (guess who?) have their plans ready on how to milk this bank till it geh sickly and paglee. For those who need clarity, rest easy. Coming up shortly.

The key players have already been handpicked. Ready to rumble. The PPP had a handful of names to choose from to move the GDB up the ladder, along the way. There’s the way, truth, and life of Jesus. Not the PPP way, regrettably. The PPP Govt. has its own way. Radically different. In substance, results. To condition Guyanese hopefuls, I conclude that senior positions-GDB chair, deputy chair, and CEO are as good as filled. Done deals. Before that GDB bill becomes law. What’s there to debate? There’s a seven-seat majority. Who cares what the other sides, any Guyanese, think? Including those who think less of the PPP’s standards of staffing? Overseers and officers, for example. Seven seats provide that electricity-sparking confidence [and disdain].

Qualifications for the jobs of chair, deputy chair, and CEO earn top marks for the following. They don’t have to be thieves, but it helps. Known thieves are prized by the PPP Govt. The logic is majestic. Whoever teef caan taak. The best are party loyalists who prosper when matters are upside down, shrouded in secrecy. Try this example. The PPP loves overseers, commissioners, bank watchmen, senior bank officers who see a dog, hear a dog, know it’s a dog, but sell it as a duck or a donkey. Whoever heard a dog that sounds or looks like one of those creatures? Best of all, are those who know how to keep their mouths shut, whatever the crimes committed. It’s better when they’re part of the white-collar crimewave waiting inside that new bank. With such trusted personnel seated, secrets stay secret. Trouble is contained. What happened in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. Substitute GDB for local color.

With $40 billion around, there’s plenty playing for the boys, to have some fun. There’s a guarantee, two to be accurate. Freedom House has their back. And Office of the President has its own magistracy and rubberstamp ready. Nah maan! Nat dese peeple. Dem is good PPP people. Look how much ting deh doh fuh de paaty. Can’t abandon them. Cannot, will not, throw them under the bus. Not with all those sharks waiting to rip them to pieces. It’s basic democracy: taking care of one’s own is taking care of business. They are due first bites at the fruits of victory and policy. So, what if they mess up, make their hands fast? Stuff happens. Nobody is perfect.

What about the customers? Yes, those waiting borrowers? Once they wear red, let them come into the GDB. In with a knowing chuckle, out with a $3 million check. The government is quick thinking: help to fix the loan documents. Fix is preferred. For other people: wrong colour, wrong hairstyle, and wrong relationships, the GDB is just as warm and hospitable. Welcome, sir, madam. Take a number. Have a seat. Just a little wait. The staff is out to lunch, in a meeting, gone golfing, or off to Congress. Free seats. Free updates. Few could be so classless or tasteless to want more. Wait until they hear ‘this loan application is receiving the highest consideration. The bull just began. No money, no love. No $3 million loan. Those kinds of Guyanese are on their own. Stage is set. Law ready. The games begin. The chair’s in place. I think that the whole kit and kaboodle (PPP kin)-chiefs and cooks are like corruption Oreos. Devilishly pious on the outside, wickedly devious inside. A bank with a shank.

(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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GHK Lall, Guyana Development Bank, PPP

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