REGION 8 SPECIAL: When Councils Can’t Function

Sherod Duncan reports from Region 8, where serious questions are being raised about local governance, democratic representation and accountability. At the centre of this special report is the seven-month hiatus of the Mahdia Town Council. Duncan sits down with Municipal Councillor Daniel Fraser for an extended discussion on why the Council has not been meeting, what this prolonged interruption means for residents and the municipality, and the wider challenges confronting Mahdia and Region 8. The situation is also examined alongside developments in Region 10, where the Regional Executive Officer has been accused of refusing to facilitate the statutory Regional Democratic Council meeting for the election of a Chairman and Vice Chairman. Together, the developments in Regions 8 and 10 raise a broader question: what happens to local democracy when elected councils are prevented from carrying out their basic functions? The programme also returns to the site of the 2023 Mahdia Secondary School dormitory fire, examining the continuing aftermath of the tragedy and the recommendations of the subsequent Commission of Inquiry. Duncan and Fraser revisit commitments made to survivors and the families of the 20 children who perished, including promises they say remain unfulfilled, while connecting the questions of accountability and institutional responsibility arising from Mahdia to those surrounding the July 2026 MV Barima disaster. Reporting from Region 8, Duncan also provides updates on major national developments, including the Tassawini land dispute; the arrest of Leader of the Opposition Azruddin Mohamed and WIN Member of Parliament Natasha Singh; and the recent High Court ruling awarding retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Slowe $1 million after finding that he had been unlawfully detained. This Region 8 special connects the issues confronting communities here with a wider national question of governance and institutional accountability: Why has the Mahdia Town Council been inactive for seven months? Why has the Region 10 council been unable to elect its leadership? Have the lessons and promises following the Mahdia dormitory tragedy been honoured? And are Guyana's democratic institutions being allowed to function as they should? #Guyana #Region8 #Mahdia #Region10 #LocalGovernment #MahdiaDormFire #Accountability #SherodDuncanMP