On 27 August 2023, the Guyana Chronicle reported on a Guyana Gold & Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) awards ceremony:
‘Among the distinguished awardees were: … Gold Target Export – Recognized as the leader among Top Gold Traders’. One of the photographs featured in the Guyana Chronicle report was of Azeem Baksh, of Gold Target Export, receiving a Top Gold Traders award from the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Natural Resources.
President of the GGDMA, Andron Alphonso, ‘emphasised the industry’s dependence on government support for progress and stressed the importance of constructive co-operation. “We don’t seek handouts; what we need is a receptive audience willing to collaborate to achieve our shared targets,” President Alphonso remarked, emphasising the role of active engagement in fostering growth’ (GGDMA recognises top miners, calls for continued support. Guyana Chronicle. https://guyanachronicle.com/2023/08/27/ggdma-recognises-top-miners-calls-for-continued-support/).
Two years later, among the claims which ‘top miner’ Azeem Baksh made to journalist Travis Chase on 27 March 2025, and aired on 12 August 2025, (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3980217925561620) were the following:
Minute 18:49: At least four big miners [named] were major contributors to, and involved in, the 2020 elections.
Minute 19:02: One of the four miners ‘is very close friends with the President. They are very close friends.’
Minute 19:46: ‘when it comes to working for the election,’ miners contributed … money, security, bodyguards, bulletproof vehicles, ATV bikes, … ‘free of charge’.
Minute 20:26: Claudette Singh [Chair of GECOM], was being transported in a bulletproof vehicle loaned by miner Azeem Baksh, and chauffeured by a Guyana Police Force officer, ‘when they had the problem at Ashmin’s building’.
Minute 21:24: ‘So after the election is done with and the PPP won, and they gone into power … [a named miner] would approach me [Azeem Baksh] with a proposal … and he would say to me everything’s set now. We in the money now… Now is the time that he was promised contracts …’.
That was then, 2020. The 2025 national elections are less than two weeks away.
Editor, through your newspaper, we ask Andron Alphonso the following questions, following on his statement in August 2023 that the GGDMA does not seek ‘handouts’:
In the 2025 election season, please detail the nature of your member(s) involvement with the Guyana Police Force.
Are member(s) of the GGDMA again providing money, security, bodyguards, bulletproof vehicles, ATV bikes … ‘free of charge’ to the PPP?
Are member(s) of the GGDMA again providing a bulletproof vehicle, driven by a police officer, for the use of Claudette Singh, Chair of GECOM?
Would Andron Alphonso please comment on any, or all, of the disclosures of President-Minister-GGMC-miners collusion, including the following mentioned by Mr Baksh?
Insider trading;
Allocation of mining blocks outside of the legal procedures;
Yours truly,
Janette Bulkan
Alfred Bhulai
Andre Brandli
Kenrick Hunte
Darsh Khusial
Joe Persaud
