Dear Editor,
A leaked memorandum from the Ministry of Home Affairs has detonated yet another scandal at the heart of the People’s Progressive Party government. The document confirms that for the month of October alone, Guyanese taxpayers were charged US$62,588.78 to pay a Jamaican legal team representing the United States of America in the extradition case against businessmen Nazar “Shell” Mohamed and his son, Azruddin Mohamed.
This shocking disclosure is not a clerical oversight—it is a major breach of financial accountability and a brazen insult to national sovereignty. Since when does a sovereign nation use its public funds to finance a foreign government’s prosecution? The United States, endowed with vast resources and its own legal apparatus, surely does not need Guyana to subsidise its courtroom battles. So why is it happening now, and why in this particular case?
Guyana has managed numerous extraditions in the past without involving foreign lawyers or secret payments. Yet suddenly, in a case that touches a politically ambitious businessman, the government sidesteps established procedures and quietly transfers public funds to support Washington’s cause. The smell of political manipulation is unmistakable. This has every appearance of a quid pro quo—one where the PPP gains international favor and neutralises a potential political challenger under the guise of legal cooperation.
Equally troubling is the Attorney General’s denial of these payments, even as internal documentation proves otherwise. Such deception transforms a legal matter into a political conspiracy. The AG should do the honorable thing and remit office as he would certainly lose all integrity, in misleading the nation. The government’s conduct not only undermines public trust but also exposes a growing pattern: secrecy first, accountability never.
Beyond the immediate scandal lies a deeper national danger. When a government allows a foreign power to dictate judicial process and then pays to make it happen, the line between partnership and subservience vanishes. Justice ceases to be sovereign; it becomes transactional. This surrender of autonomy erodes the very essence of democracy, leaving citizens to question whether their government answers to them—or to someone else’s agenda.
The people of Guyana deserve leaders who defend their independence, not ones who mortgage it in secret. Every cent spent on foreign legal representation in this case is a cent stolen from schools, hospitals, and national dignity. The PPP must be held to account. Because if justice can be rented out, then sovereignty itself is already