On Sunday, July 5, 2026, a sharp public conflict erupted between Guyana’s top political rivals, as Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed leveled explosive GY$2.2 billion corruption allegations against sitting President Irfaan Ali over an agricultural property along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway. Mohamed published a 24-minute exposé video on his Team Mohamed’s Facebook page, complete with on-site imagery of the property, claiming the project involves improper misuse of state resources and presidential influence.
Mohamed alleged that the 150-acre sprawling agricultural estate, which he refers to as a personal “ranch”, includes a GY$75 million public-funded access road and a GY$55 million electricity transmission line built exclusively for the property. In a pointed critique of inequity, he noted that nearby residents of St. Cuthbert’s Mission have only received four hours of grid electricity daily for decades, while Ali’s livestock – including black-bellied sheep and Brazilian cattle – enjoy 24/7 power access. According to the opposition leader’s estimates, the development also includes large ventilated poultry tunnel houses, dedicated cattle shelters, multi-level sheep enclosures, worker housing, a two-story concrete personal residence, and a recreational complex with a swimming pool, paved deck, gazebo, outdoor cooking area and event spaces, totaling a GY$165 million investment in residential and leisure infrastructure. Mohamed claimed Ali is projected to earn millions of dollars annually from the venture across poultry, cattle, sheep, goat, and fish production, and argued that the president amasses private generational wealth while pressuring business leaders to fund his lavish political fundraisers and galas.
Notably, the report adds context: Azruddin Mohamed and his father Nazar “Shell” Mohamed are already under United States sanctions and criminal charges for alleged wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering connected to their gold trading operations. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control claims the pair exported over 10,000 kilograms of gold without reporting it to Guyanese authorities, evading more than US$50 million in required tax payments to the Guyanese government. As of publication, none of Mohamed’s cost or revenue estimates for Ali’s property have been independently verified by third parties.
President Ali has issued a full, vehement rejection of all allegations, speaking to reporters from Demerara Waves Online News shortly after arriving in St. Lucia for the 51st Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit running from July 5 to 8. Ali clarified that the property is a pre-existing farm he owned long before his first election as president in 2020, and that all funding for expansions and operations comes from personal bank loans, not state resources. “There is absolutely no State involvement or no State financing for any single thing on my farm. It is in existence long before I am President and all of my assets have been declared to the Integrity Commission,” Ali stated, adding that local banking institutions can confirm all loans and asset declarations. He also rejected claims that he used presidential influence to secure the land or project benefits.
Guyana’s Integrity Commission, unlike Jamaica’s equivalent body, is not legally required to publicly disclose the asset declarations of senior political officials. Ali further framed the accusations as part of a blackmail campaign by the Mohamed family, with whom he maintained a close personal relationship dating back to his secondary school years before the U.S. imposed sanctions on the pair in June 2024. “This part of a nasty agenda of the Mohameds and now they came out this morning with complete propaganda, lies and deception,” the president said, noting the pair had attempted similar pressure tactics until recently to force him to back down from unspecified actions.
Ali also confirmed that his farm staff reported unauthorized drone flights over the private property for four consecutive days ahead of the accusations, with some reports of items being dropped from the unmanned aircraft. A formal police report has been filed over the incursion, and authorities are currently investigating the incident.