OPINION: I say NO to non-disclosure of campaign financing donors

Last Updated on Friday, 24 October 2025, 21:56 by Writer

By GHK Lall

I regret having to disagree with the PNC’s Mr. Aubrey Norton on his stance with disclosing of the names of campaign finance donors. He is against such disclosure. I would disagree just as strenuously, and no less regrettably, with Pres. Irfaan Ali, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, and Attorney General Anil Nandlall, if that same nondisclosure of donors would be where they stand. Today, I narrow down the thrust of my rejection of that objection of non-disclosure of donors for one reason, and one reason alone. It is a deeply personal one.

When campaign donations and their donors are fully disclosed, then there is a paper trail of who gave how much to whom, and how often. When campaign donations and their donors are fully disclosed, then Guyanese have a more than a solid idea of who is owed a payback, who could be part of the protected class when corrupt practices are part of their modus operandi. There is another benefit for citizens: coming under scrutiny would be what kind of money is involved? Dark money? Dirty money? Personally speaking, there would be less of the frenzies coming out of PPP Government quarters, less of the descent into utter madness, surrounding gold smuggling, or any other kind of smuggling, along with the many other crimes that remain unsolved in this country.

By whose hand, whose intellectual authorship, whose political coddling, those are the questions around many cold cases. Once again for emphasis, when campaign donors are identified, they and their political recipients are on the table, in the open. I understand that campaign financing is an investment, and like all investments, a healthy return is expected. The bigger it is, the better. It is called something for something. I agree with that, but not when crimes are involved and the parties collecting the hundreds of millions in cash have the luxury of hiding behind their media proxies, and leave a citizen like me to take the heat for their lapses, their relationships, and all that both covered. To my fellow Guyanese, I put this simplest of questions: is this not what is happening, with gold smuggling and tax evasion and money laundering alleged by the U.S.?

When there is no disclosure, especially of deep-pocketed donors, then some of the crimes that have happened in this country get a free pass. Guess from whom? The recipients of those fat stacks of cash in a cash-centric country. Guess which citizen gets the honor of attempts to being made into a scapegoat, and with a bag of paint dumped on his head? I step forward and raise my hand. Those who collected from undisclosed donors (because there is no law requiring disclosure) can wheel and deal, and do their wiggles, while being patently dishonest enough to leave others to carry their load. What the hell is the use of a campaign financing law that has the great, big void, of non-disclosure of campaign financing donors? It is useless. It would be a mockery of doing things right, and holding people (perps) in this country accountable for their crimes, or their sponsorship of crimes, be they capital ones, or the whimper of misdemeanors.

I have to say it loudly and without equivocation. Non-disclosure of campaign financing donors has two objectives and two objectives alone. The first is to protect the politicians when they engage in coverups. The second is so that the donors can be gifted with their own immunities from a proper investigation and what passes for genuine prosecution. Non-disclosure is hogwash. Non-disclosure is utter trash. Non-disclosure of donors would be a continuation of the political farces that have plagued this country. I say that before both government and opposition, and anyone else—lawyers, civil society members, religious leaders—right to their faces.

Look at what the PPP and PNC can agree on: non-disclosure of campaign financing donors, so that they and their donors can probably get a free ride. Meanwhile, others are made to bear the brunt of the creative political malevolence that dominates the networks. Today, the campaign donors are my friends, and my donors. The PPP’s hands are clean. The PNC is in the clear. Even more egregiously, there is pawning off on someone that they think is some dumb sucker, the very developments involving people, as alleged, and from whom they stretched out their hands and pocketed.

Now this obscenity is given new life. No to disclosure of campaign financing donors. Why does it have to be so? If there were laws that required disclosure, some dots could have been connected, and then all hell would break loose. When there is addiction to this sort of standard, then it is business as usual. There will be found a whipping boy to handle the blows. I say no today to non-disclosure. I say no tomorrow to non-disclosure. I say NO forever to non-disclosure of political campaign financing donors.