OPINION: Mr. Mohamed must be wiser, no longer a risktaker

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 August 2026, 12:34 by Denis Chabrol

By GHK Lall

I give advice to Pres Ali and the PPP. I extend the same courtesy to Opposition Leader (OL), Mr. Azruddin Mohamed and WIN. Mr. Mohamed should know is that he is not the Azruddin Mohamed of before. Former standing has fled. No more of the old insider status. Not a golden child anymore. He must, therefore, be wiser. Humbler helps. A learner and a grower, if he is going to get beyond OL. He can. The people have to see more. Commonsense. Eyes in the back of his head. A sure touch, that of a leader gathering steam, increasing in stature. The PPP, and his former friend (so I take it) fear his rise. Why gift them grounds to bring down?

It’s bewildering that OL Mohamed could have been so, ah, sloppy. By his own admission, the boat is about 13 years old. Today is not the same as 13 years ago. The Azruddin Mohamed then and the Azruddin Mohamed now are as far apart as the Artic from Antarctica. From the PPP’s perspective, at least. From best friend and bosom companion to Public Enemy Number One. a man stalked and shadowed. Every move. Every blink. Surprising that his boat is so lacking in documents. Surprising he’s out on $100k.

Before, he could have gotten away with many things. Boat license. He did have docs. They are expired. BAD! So, he didn’t take the time, wasn’t bothered. Understood. Who cares? Who was going to find fault? Stop wasting time, holding up business. No one would have dared go against the powers that be in the PPP. Those who influence how these developments were, to use euphemisms, processed and handled. Those good times are gone, and OL Mohamed has to get with the new program pronto. He doesn’t call the shots, anymore. He has to learn how to get ahead, outside the range, of PPP target practice coordinators. Get papers and himself in order. Dis time nah lang time.

It is still inconceivable to an amateur like me that he could have been using a 13-year-old boat with expired docs for his political forays into the deep watery interior, and extending support to the families of the dead from the MV Barima forced drowning. After all the scrutiny he got, heat he took. It’s tantamount to taunting the PPP brain trust, and its supporting public service architecture. It’s asking for trouble. It is revealing that he got away with that slackness for such a long time. I sense that the cavalier manner in which rules and regulations were dealt with in earlier times has not been fully abandoned. My free counsel to OL Mohamed is that he had better come to his senses quickly. Do a full inventory. A gap analysis, to get fancy. Then address those areas of deficiency immediately.

My second piece of advice to Mr. Mohamed is what he knows already. The PPP Govt lives on vindictiveness and viciousness. Why take the risk, test the sharpness of those? There is nothing that would delight the PPP top brass more than putting a clamp on Mr. Mohamed’s wheels. They can be two-wheeled, of the four-wheel variety, or those that roll on water. There are times to get in the face and confront adversaries. Then, there are those occasions, when circling around, or carrying self above the fray, is the best option. Don’t leave nothing to chance.

From all indications, Mr. Mohamed has been a fast learner on how Guyana’s brutish politics work. He now qualifies as a seasoned operator, despite being a newcomer. Therefore, no rope should have been given to the PPP posse. It wouldn’t like anything better than to be part of a hanging party. Adapt is the word, and he must get adept at it. In local parlance: dis time nah lang time. The future beckons. Mistakes of this kind cannot continue, will not be condoned. Including here. I have done my duty to country and fellow citizens.

P.S: OL Mohamed has a challenge. My counseling tank is empty. It’s related to getting that fast boat relicensed. Expired documents renewed. Could be a slow boat to nowhere. Beware! PPP dragons.