The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) has made public its campaign finance information following its commitment to transparency made last October.
“We committed then, and since, to release information on our own campaign finances before and after the elections. Today, we fulfill as promised the first part of that commitment, Executive and TCI Founding Member, Shazaam Ally said in a release moments ago.”
See full release below:
When we launched The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) in October of 2019, one of our first commitments was to transparency, particularly in the area of campaign financing.
Why is campaign finance transparency important?
Simply put, when political parties are not required to disclose where their money comes from to run their campaigns, the public does not have a record of the companies and individuals who influence their decision-making while holding elected office. This establishes the fertile ground for the exact sort of corruption that has stretched across governments in this country. The introduction of oil money into developing countries, particular those like Guyana with weak institutions, overwhelming results in increased corruption and shady deals.
We believe therefore that any political entity that is to be taken seriously on promises to transform this country for the betterment of all citizens has to begin with tangible commitments to campaign finance reform, ending in reformed legislation and supporting structures but beginning with voluntary disclosures. This has been the recommendation of the Carter Center, Transparency Guyana, and CARICOM, and falls under our obligations towards fighting corruption under the United Nations Convention against Corruption to which we are signatory.
Why Release?
There are two primary reasons we are releasing our campaign finance information. The first is simple – it is the right thing to do in the interest of public accountability, whether or not it is required by law. Secondly, the primary purpose of the formation of TCI was to encourage participatory citizenship. While political campaigns are expensive, we want to demonstrate that with commitment, strategy and accountability, running a campaign in order to participate in the democratic process is not prohibitively expensive. We estimate that the average single campaign rally entertainment expenditure alone is double our total funds raised as of January, and the expenditure on party flags for just one major party will be dozens of times our expenditure for the entire election. Still, not only have we made nomination day but we continue to run a solid ground campaign of meeting people, listening to their concerns and sharing our plans. We believe that with greater accountability comes increased efficiency as well as greater participation, and this is fundamental to the democratic process.
Our Challenge
To date, no other party has shown any tangible commitment towards campaign finance transparency or reform. In contrast, we have released, as promised, our summary campaign finance information before the actual elections have taken place. This is not a requirement by law but we believe it is a critical measure towards inspiring public confidence in the integrity of political players. We invite all other party lists to do the same in the interest of rebuilding a sense of public accountability. We further challenge all other party lists to adhere to the law and submit their records of expenditure within 35 days after elections.
DONATIONS
October 1, 2019 – January 31, 2020
When we launched, we committed to providing the option of anonymity in the public disclosure of the identity of our donors, even as we retained strict records of each donor, except for any donor committing above $10,000 US dollars or the Guyana dollar equivalent. Each donor was assigned a separate number and their donations measured in aggregate. No donor has given more than the amount we set so we have exercised the option of providing the donor number and the amount(s) given. As of January 31, we had received a total of $2,509,850 from a total of 27 donors. The highest aggregate donation is from Donor 4, a US-based supporter with a total donation of $462,000 while the smallest donation was an online contribution of US $10 or GYD $2,100 from Donor 24.
Donor 1 $200,000
Donor 2 $40,000
$105,000
Donor 3 $100,000
Donor 4 $105,000
$210,000
$147,000
Donor 5 $160,000
$63,000
Donor 6 $105,000
$105,000
Donor 7 $42,000
$84,000
$105,000
Donor 8 $200,000
Donor 9 $210,000
Donor 10 $30,000
Donor 11 $5,250
Donor 12 $21,000
Donor 13 $21,000
Donor 14 $82,000
Donor 15 $42,000
Donor 16 $10,500
Donor 17 $105,000
Donor 18 $42,000
Donor 19 $21,000
Donor 20 $21,000
Donor 21 $5,250
Donor 22 $10,500
Donor 23 $5,250
Donor 24 $2,100
Donor 25 $42,000
Donor 26 $42,000
Donor 27 $21,000
Total $2,509,850
EXPENDITURE
October 1 2019 – January 31, 2020
The information below represents our expenditure from October of last year to end of January of this year. Our primary expenses for October were towards our launch event on the 17th of that month. There was no expenditure for November since we used that month primarily for strategic planning. We dedicated the month of December for outreaches, reconnaissance and final candidate and nominator drives in time for nomination day of January 10. We also dedicated funds towards a US outreach that included visits to the Carter Centre Headquarters as well as small outreach events in Atlanta and New York.
October
T-shirts $70,000
Launch Expenses $286,708
November
No expenditure
December
Local Outreach $84,000
US Outreach. $189,000
Stationery/Materials $30,000
Phone Credit $4,000
Rental Costs $90,000
Nomination Day Drive
Region 2 $25,000
Region 4 $15,000
Region 5 $80,000
Region 6 $40,000
Team Breakfast $7,000
Graphic Artist $30,000
January
Nomination Day Drive 2
Region 2 $152,000
Region 3 $10,000
Region 4 $6,000
Region 5 $31,000
Region 6 $20,000
Region 10 $15,000
Rental Costs $90,000
Miscellaneous $42,000
Facebook Ads $140,000
T-shirts $70,000
Campaign Launch $142,280
Logistics $55,000
Flyers Printing $100,000
US Outreach $260,190
Total $2,014,178
