Addressing the controversy that has erupted over the Long Creek farm of President Irfaan Ali, commentator Christopher Ram says that the documents will tell the real story.
In his latest oil and gas column on Kiskadee Watch Ram noted that the President says that the farm was financed by bank loans.
“Fine. Then let the documents speak. Was he using the term ‘bank’ loosely to include the PPP-leaning New Building Society? When were the loans approved? To whom were they granted? Were they made to the President personally or to a company? What security was offered? When was each parcel of land acquired? Was it purchased, leased or allocated? Where is the evidence that public resources were not employed, or that the authority of the Presidency was not invoked to facilitate, if not finance, the project? These are not hostile questions. These questions are not being asked by an investigator, auditor or banker but by ordinary citizens and they have a right to answers”, Ram declared.
He said that if the President is right, independent scrutiny will vindicate him and if he is wrong, the country has as much a right to know as he has a duty to disclose.
Ram said that Ali’s video on the farm following his return from St Lucia proved neither innocence nor misconduct.
“But for the holder of the highest office in the land, sworn to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, it fell well short of the standard any constitutional democracy is entitled to expect. In a democracy, Presidents do not certify their own conduct. Independent institutions do”, Ram argued.
Framing the controversy in the context of oil and gas governance, Ram asserted that oil has changed everything.
“What once passed as ordinary political controversy has become a test of institutional strength and public accountability. The 2026 Budget granted generous tax concessions to agriculture and agro-processing. Once the Head of State owns a substantial agricultural enterprise, the issue ceases to be merely economic. It becomes one of governance. How are conflicts of interest identified, disclosed and managed? How does the public know that national policy was not a cloak for private benefit?”, he asked.
Ram, a chartered accountant and attorney said that international examples show that the Resource Curse does not begin with missing billions, corrupt petroleum contracts or white-elephant projects.
“Those are its later symptoms. It begins when institutions yield to power, transparency gives way to official assurances and presidential videos replace independent verification”, he stated.
He asserted that South Africa offered a useful contrast. He said that President Cyril Ramaphosa had denied wrongdoing over the Phala Phala farm controversy but that his denial settled nothing. Parliament, independent constitutional processes and law-enforcement agencies all became involved, Ram noted. Whatever one’s view of the outcome, he said that South Africa reaffirmed a principle Guyana should embrace: a President’s explanation is never a substitute for independent scrutiny.
“Guyana has yet to demonstrate the same constitutional, political and institutional maturity. That is why the controversy over the President’s farm belongs in an oil and gas column. It is no longer about agriculture. It is about whether Guyana’s institutions, and those who lead them, are keeping pace with the demands of oil wealth. It is about whether constitutional office holders are sufficiently independent to place country above party, the Constitution above political convenience, the public interest above partisan loyalty, and yes, a stipend above their integrity”, Ram contended.
He pointed out that President Ali In his video presentation repeatedly invoked the Integrity Commission as if its mere existence answered the concerns that have arisen. Ram said that it does not.
“An Integrity Commission is judged not by its statutory existence but by its credibility, its independence and the confidence it inspires. A commission that is neither seen nor heard, and whose work rarely informs public debate, cannot resolve questions of this magnitude simply by being invoked. Institutions earn public confidence by what they do, not by being invoked from the podium”, he posited.
Ram said that this is the larger issue confronting Guyana.
“Oil wealth does not merely test governments; it tests institutions. It asks whether they possess the independence, courage and authority to examine those who exercise power, including the President himself. If they do not, political confidence replaces constitutional accountability, and the Resource Curse ceases to be an academic theory and becomes a national reality.
“Too much is now at stake for Guyana to rely on trust alone. Oil has raised the value of public office. It has also raised the price of weak governance. Every major decision involving those who exercise public power will now be examined through the lens of conflicts of interest, institutional independence, and yes, misuse of public office”, he argued.
Discussion