‘The choice before us is between division & unity’ – Randy Wade, cousin of APNU’s Darren Wade backs PPP/C

Randy Wade, cousin of opposition-aligned attorney and APNU supporter Darren Wade, has openly declared his support for the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), urging Guyanese to reject race-based politics as the nation heads to the polls on September 1.

Wade, who is actively campaigning with the PPP/C in West Berbice, said he was compelled to speak out after former PPP/C minister turned APNU supporter, Dr. Henry Jeffrey, recently claimed that “voting based on race is ok” and that the PPP/C was merely consolidating its Indian base.

“Such rhetoric, normalising ethnically motivated political engagement, runs counter to the very democratic ideals Dr. Jeffrey once claimed to champion and undermines the unity Guyana so desperately needs,” Wade said in a letter to the editor.

He reminded that Dr. Jeffrey himself once stood for democratic reform, serving in Cheddi Jagan’s government after years of advocating for free and fair elections. “To hear a former teacher of political science endorse race-based voting not only contradicts the spirit of democratic reform but also risks normalising a mindset that generations of students were taught to question and resist,” Wade added.

Calling on voters to choose inclusion over separation, Wade pointed to the PPP/C’s record over the last five years. “The PPP/C has advanced policies that benefit Guyanese of every background — expanding housing, creating jobs, awarding scholarships, and reinvesting in health and education,” he said.

With elections just days away, Wade warned that race-based politics can only divide families and communities. “The choice before us is not between one race and another,” he declared. “It is between regression and progress, between division and unity, between a politics of fear and a politics of hope.”

Wade’s endorsement comes as a notable development in West Berbice, not only because of his family link to APNU attorney Darren Wade, but also because it underscores the shifting political ground ahead of a fiercely contested election.