Kaieteur News’ Glenn Lall being used as a pawn by APNU+AFC to bring in ‘Indian votes’ – PPP GS

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, has identified yet another manipulation tactic being used by the APNU+AFC to mislead Guyanese.

During a press conference at Freedom House on Thursday,  the general secretary said that Kaieteur News’ Glenn Lall is being used by the APNU+AFC as a political pawn to “bring in Indian votes.”

The GS noted that his role is similar to the one David Hinds attributed to Moses Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan.

“PNC now needs to look for new faces to do that, so they need Glenn Lall and the likes of Glenn Lall to go and mislead people again on the ground that the PPP is not looking out for them,” he told reporters.

He said this alliance engages with persons on the ground seeking to sabotage government’s development agenda.

“The AFC is practically defunct, dead on the ground and you have some of the PPP haters in some areas, like a few of them who often had trouble on the ground because they want to steal someone’s land or something of that sort. And we came down heavily on them. So, some of them hate us pathologically with a passion. So, they know, they don’t have a political force to gravitate to.”

The general secretary said this group consists of persons living abroad, hiding behind false accounts.

Kaieteur News has historically been utilised as a political weapon, and Dr Jagdeo believes at this point, the newspaper is operating as a political entity, rather than a news outlet.

He added that in spite of the misinformation constantly being spread by the newspaper, government will continue to provide clarification on issues.

“We will have to answer the questions. We’ll be critical of the newspaper and it’s lies, but we will still answer questions until that changes.”

Dr Jagdeo recalled that in 2021, Glenn Lall postulated that the country’s fishing industry was on the brink of extinction, a feat that he credited to the oil and gas industry.

However, in 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture reported that the country’s overall fish production had increased by more than 10 per cent from 2020. Further, government has been working assiduously to ramp up production, implementing new aquaculture techniques.

To this end, a recent report identified Guyana as a leading exporter of seabob shrimp globally.

“So, all the sea bob that swam away now swimming back to Guyana, coming back here. Because, you know he said the oil and gas industry drove away the sea bob,” the GS highlighted.