The International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly – Guyana (IDPADA-G) on Tuesday said it has no issues if 55 organisations identified by the government accepts promised funding this year but insisted that it will not be regarded by the body as the annual $100 million subvention.
The government has indicated it will be giving the $100M in this year’s budget to the 55 organisations to meet the objectives of the International Decade of People of African Descent. Previously, the funds were given to IDPADA-G, an organisation that was created to receive the funding, but it was found that most of the funding went towards paying bills and salaries and did not significantly benefit Afro-Guyanese.
The issue of State-sponsored subvention to the organisation is before the courts and while Attorney General Anil Nandlall has said it only deals with 2022, IDPADA-G’s Chairman Vincent Alexander has disagreed.
And in response to the government decision to disburse the allocated annual subventions for 2023 directly to various African organisations in Guyana, Alexnader says some organisations have told him they will not accept it.
He also clarified that the list the government is using to determine the 55 organisations is a dated one since the organisation’s membership has grown to 65.
“We have no issue with them receiving a grant from government… if they wish to take it it’s up to them once they understand what they are taking is not IDPADA-G subvention… they may well have an entitlement outside of IDPADA-G for assistance from government,” Alexander said.
The government’s decision to issue the funds directly to the 55 organisations came after talks with IDPADA-G broke down and the country’s Chief Justice Roxane George said she will hear the full case on the withholding of the subvention by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
Alexander claimed the government has never told the organisation its reasons for withholding the subvention.
Asked then about the mediation talks, he said there were not real discussions.
“There was from our side a proposition… the only other exchange was a response of what the government would do,” he added.
Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo had said repeatedly publicly that among the government’s concerns was that audited financial statements show the body received $100 million of State funds in 2020 but only $343,000 in grants were distributed. Another $42 million was spent on salaries and allowances.
Last year, the Vice-President presented IDPADA-G’s financial statement for 2020, which shows that salaries and allowances amounted to $42 million, conference expenses $4.5 million, travelling and transportation $2.8 million, advertisements $2 million, office material and expenses $9 million, and building rentals and utilities $5 million.
On Tuesday, Alexander reminded that the Assembly was set up through a democratic process and said it had remained efficiency, transparent and accountable with regular reporting to oversight bodies in New York.
He would not comment further since the issue remains an unresolved one in the courts.
The International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015–2024, was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in a Resolution adopted on 23 December 2013.
That resolution was signed in 2013 by the People’s Progressive Party Civic Government.
But Alexander has argued that despite its stated commitment to the resolution, the government’s action must go beyond grants and subventions.
