IDPADA-G says it does not feel jilted by Govt.’s decision to disburse $100M to other Afro-Guyanese groups

The International Decade for People of African Decent- Guyana (IDPADA-G) does not believe it is being jilted by the PPP/C administration which announced its decision to payout $100M to several other African Organizations. In fact, the organization sees the disbursement of cash as government’s own initiative, and not one that is in line with the United Nations.

Expounding on the issue, Chairman of IDPADA-G, Vincent Alexander today told the press that the organization does not recognize the move by the government as a sinister one; and thus does not acknowledge that the money paid to the organizations were meant for them instead. Alexander told the media that the subvention from the government is a separate transaction and as such should be intertwined.

“What the Government is doing is not giving the subsidy to organizations; it’s giving them cash grants. The question of the subvention is still a matter before the court and unlike what has been in the public domain, the motion that we have filed in the court does not address 2022, it addresses the entire period until 2024. So, the matter of the subvention is still a contentious matter,” Alexander expounded.

Alexander further stated that three of the organizations that are expected to receive the grants have indicated to IDPADA-G that they will not accept the grants from the administration. He said, “When our coordinating council met, there were members of the council who took that position, that they will not be recipients of handouts that was unsolicited.”

IDPADA-G’s 65 General Assembly members will meet at the weekend to decide whether it will take the grants from the administration and notify the organization of their decision. Alexander said, “It is for them to decide as individual organizations whether they will take a cash grant from the government. We will not be prodding them one way or the other. We will, however, be making it clear to them that what they are being offered has nothing to do with the subvention.”

IDPADA-G was established in 2017 as the Country Coordinating Mechanism for the United Nations Decade for People of African Descent through a process involving 31 member organizations at that time. Currently, the Government and the organization are before the courts after Government stopped it’s annual subvention, accusing the organization of financial irregularities.