As public debate continues to swirl around President Irfaan Ali’s technology-focused agricultural project along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, Guyana’s main opposition bloc A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has tabled a legislative proposal to amend the country’s Integrity Act, mandating public release of asset declaration summaries for the President, cabinet ministers and other senior public officials.
In a formal letter submitted to Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs alongside the draft bill, APNU parliamentary leader Dr. Terrence Campbell outlined that the proposed reform is designed to reinforce transparency, accountability and public trust in government. The amendment would require the Integrity Commission to publish summaries of statutory asset declarations held by top elected and executive officeholders, while retaining confidentiality for sensitive information that does not require public disclosure. Under the plan, these summaries would be officially circulated via the country’s Official Gazette.
Campbell argued that any lawmaker or political party that rejects the broad framework of the bill would send a clear signal they have something to conceal from the Guyanese public. “I want the public to know that anybody who does not support this generally — there might be some changes that they may require — but anybody in Parliament, any parliamentarian, any party that does not support this, has something to hide,” Campbell stated in a public address accompanying the bill.
Drawing on a regional precedent, Campbell noted that Jamaica’s Integrity Commission already publishes asset declaration summaries for the country’s Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, and proposed extending the same level of transparency to a broad range of senior positions across Guyana’s public sector. The bill would require public summaries for positions including parliamentary secretaries, permanent secretaries, the commissioners of Land Surveys, Geology and Mines, and Forestry, the Commissioner of Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police, chairs and managing directors of state agencies and state-owned corporations, as well as municipal mayors and deputy mayors.
If the National Assembly declines to convene to debate the proposed amendment, Campbell has called on President Ali and leaders of all parliamentary parties to set an immediate example by voluntarily publishing their full 2025 asset declarations. The opposition leader also offered to lead by example, confirming he would release his own complete asset declaration first thing Monday morning if a cross-party agreement to do so is reached.
The legislative push comes amid ongoing public uncertainty over the size and financing of President Ali’s Long Creek farm project. Campbell acknowledged that he had prior knowledge of the President’s agricultural venture, but had no idea it spanned as much as 150 acres — a figure first claimed by Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed. President Ali has only stated the holding is smaller than 75 acres, refusing to release an exact acreage, and no independent, documented verification of the property’s size has been made public to date.
President Ali has thus far rejected calls to release public financial records for his business, which includes poultry and livestock operations. He has maintained that he funded the farm through commercial bank lending, that all required asset disclosures have been submitted to the Integrity Commission, and that he has never used his presidential authority to secure improper favors or preferential treatment for the venture. Campbell also confirmed that he has no knowledge of the Integrity Commission launching a formal investigation into the assets submitted by senior officeholders to date.