Political tensions escalate in Guyana over corruption allegations between Tourism Minister and WIN leader

Guyana: The War of Words has erupted between Guyana's Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Susan Rodrigues, and the leader of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, Azruddin Mohamed following the allegations of corruption.

On Sunday, December 28, Azruddin Mohamed released a video statement on Susan Rodrigues, questioning her about her acquired properties, as he stated that “Many people are staying homeless and are waiting for homes while the minister is living lavishly in her mansion.”

He also alleged that “Housing Minister is not doing her work property and failed to allot the houses she promised to give while enjoying and buying assets which are worth a lot.”

Responding to this, Susan Rodrigues, also posted a statement on her Facebook page on Sunday night, while denying all the allegations alleged by Mohamed. She posted a statement in which she stated that “All her assets, including houses or other property are lawfully acquired by her and not the state’s or government’s money.” 

Further the minister also accused Mohamed and his family members that “they are  trying to deflect attention from serious international allegations against them including sanctions-related matters.”

This became a public dispute on Monday morning, December 29, when both politicians started blaming each other openly. In a subsequent post in the early morning of Monday, Mohamed again started blaming her with more claims and allegations.

This time the leader of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, accused her for “not proving any satisfactory statement which can support her claims and deny all the allegations.” He also stated that “she is just deflecting everyone from the topic of  corruption, which can harm her and her ministry.”

After all the public statements and blame games, the issue heightened political tension within the country, as everyone is talking about the face off and the parties involved are still baking each other.

Apart from the statements shared on social media, the two politicians have not made any more moves of escalation and did not indicate whether the matter will be pursued through legal channels.

This tension between the minister and party’s leader grabbed everyone’s attention as many people took to Facebook to blame any individual as one of the users Karen commented “Rich people’s business can bury them alive or can give them a chance to live their life lavishly without caring anyone’s life.”

While many people are speculating that the incident occurred because of the “September 1, 2025 General and Regional Elections, where the Guyana Elections Commission has declared the PPP/C winner, while WIN continues to position itself as a growing opposition force.”