READ: President Ali’s full address for Guyana’s 59th Independence Anniversary

Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Judiciary, the Chief Justice, members of Cabinet, members of Parliament, members of the diplomatic community, our most honourable men and women in uniform, fellow Guyanese,

Today, across every town, village, savannah and riverbank of this blessed land, the flag of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana flies in proud defiance of history’s injustices, foreign ambitions and every force that ever dared to doubt our worth.

On this, the 59th anniversary of our Independence, we not only commemorate a special day, but also renew our fervent covenant, a covenant forged in struggle, sanctified by law and sustained by the unbreakable will of our one people. Independence is not an idle claim. It is the full and final declaration that a people will govern themselves, chart their own course and defend what is rightfully theirs. It is a drumbeat of sovereignty, the heartbeat of liberty.

On the morning of May 26 1966, Guyana stepped forward, no longer a colonial appendage, but a free and sovereign nation. And with that, came the unequivocal proclamation, and I quote, “Guyana shall be a sovereign, democratic state. The territory of Guyana shall comprise all the areas that immediately before the 26th of May, 1966, were comprised in the former colony of British Guyana.”

That territory, my sisters and brothers, was not drawn by whim and fancy. It was defined by the arbitral award of 1899, a binding legal instrument, recognised by international law and reaffirmed by the global community.

To quote Dave Martins, it includes “every mountain, every stream, every river, every blade of grass that belongs to we”. They’re ours, not as a gift, but as a right not to be surrendered, not to be sold, not to be stolen.

And so let it be heard across continents and oceans, in every hall of power and peace, that the territory of Guyana is a settled fact of history and law.

We are not aggressors. We are protectors. But let no one mistake our peacefulness for weakness. If our sovereignty is challenged, if our land is threatened, we shall rise as One Nation, One People, One Destiny. We shall rise not in fear, but in fierce loyalty to the land that gave us birth and which we love unconditionally. We shall defend this nation with every beat of our hearts, every muscle in our bodies, every fibre of our souls. We will never waver, never falter, never surrender.

Guyana, tomorrow is rising, rising with glory. Let this rise humble us, unify us and strengthen us as each other’s keeper.

Let this prosperity not present us as arrogant people, but people bonded together with a strong sense of responsibility of what is required of us in the family of humanity.

We look backwards, not to be entrapped, but to fortify ourselves for what lies ahead of us.

My fellow Guyanese, independence was never just a matter of geography or autonomy. It was a sacred promise, a pledge that the people of Guyana, regardless of race, religion, class or creed, would together build a future rooted in dignity, equity and equality of opportunity.

We have walked the road for 59 years, sometimes with a sure footing, sometimes unsteadily, but never, never separately and never hesitantly.

Now our path forward is clear. The road to prosperity lies before us. We need only hold each other’s hands and march steadfastly to our common goal—a developed Guyana in whose bounty all must share. We are on the cusp of magnificent achievements. We are no longer a nation seeking development. We are a nation moving rapidly to accomplish it, and ensuring no one is left behind. From the forest of the Rupununi to the coastline of Berbice, real progress is evident. We are building schools, not just for today’s children, but for tomorrow’s thinkers, builders and leaders.

We’re expanding healthcare, no longer as a privilege for a few, but a right of all, delivered with fairness, not favour. We are reshaping infrastructure, not for prominence, but for purpose, not to impress, but to empower, not as aspiration, but as achievement, visible, tangible and lived every day in the lives of our Guyanese people.

My sisters and brothers in East Berbice Corentyne, a region long rich in potential, transformation is now a reality. Here is just an example of what is happening: roads are being built, bridges are being built not just to connect places but to connect people to possibilities and opportunities. Technical training and hospitality institutes are rising, not just to teach skills, but to open new frontiers of employment and enterprise. There’s also a new canal to tame the floodwaters, a new airport on the horizon to lift commerce, and a second gas-to-shore energy project on the way to power the next Industrial wave. These are not just promises. These are your lived realities, and soon, a modern stadium and commercial centre will add a new dimension to a growing and dynamic economy. No part of Guyana will be omitted or ignored.

My fellow Guyanese,

The oil beneath our seas may be the spark, but the enduring fire of our progress is the Guyanese people, all the Guyanese people, from Lethem to Linden, from Anna Regina to Bartica. Our One Guyana vision means that every citizen will share fully and fairly in a nation’s wealth, not by chance, but by deliberate policy, not tomorrow, but now.

The coming years will be marked by even harder work as we continue building the blocks of transformation. Our infrastructural transformation is beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. We are transforming our infrastructure to connect Guyana with our neighbours, to promote trade, to increase the economic space in which we operate, to expand our markets and to remove the constraints that exist within our country. We are investing in these infrastructure to improve connectivity between regions and communities across Guyana. We are upgrading community infrastructure to improve the quality of life and to build household equity. These are the elements of infrastructure transformation that we are going to take forward. We are building an energy infrastructure and transforming our energy landscape to ensure energy security for the long term, to improve our competitiveness and to build prosperity in every home and in the lives of every citizen. We are advancing our agenda for cleaner and more renewable sources of power.

We are going to continue to work to reduce the cost of electricity so that Guyanese households and businesses can enjoy the fact that we are an energy-rich and secure country. We’re going to leverage our energy surplus to create jobs, add value to our national richness and create higher value goods and services. These are the aspects of our energy transformation that we are going to continue to invest in so that we can position Guyana as the energy hub of the Region.

Energy must be equally followed by investments in climate change. We are investing in the future to ensure climate considerations are a priority. Building our climate adaptation infrastructure for greater resilience, expanding our sea and river defence system—to protect our coastal land, to protect our farmers, to protect our businesses.  Investing in drainage and irrigation.  To expand agriculture and open up new opportunities, new land, so that we can expand our production and productivity. We are building smartly. We are building smart infrastructure, climate-resilient infrastructure.

Of course, the financial transformation is critical for the modern Guyana that we are building. Greater financial inclusion and financial independence for all is a priority of the future, so that we can increase disposable income; so that we can support the vulnerable segments of our population, including our children, women and the elderly.

We have to transform our financial system so that we can create more business opportunities. We can deploy more capital at every level of our community, including government-backed investment, the creation of a national development fund, financial reforms that would lead to capital market reforms, banking system reforms, innovative investment instruments, and making it easier for you to own your own vehicles.

Financial reforms will also include tax reforms to put more back into the economy, to expand economic growth, to further reduce personal and corporate income tax, and of course, to create a payment system; a digital payment platform that will make doing business easier, simpler and safer for every Guyanese.

The future also requires economic transformation, which includes economic diversification, expanding the economic base of our country, so that we can build our competitiveness. We can build our global competitiveness not only in the energy- the oil and gas- sector, but in every sector of our economy.

Specific measures will target every single sector. We will continue to support our traditional sectors: our rice farmers, sugar, gold, bauxite, diamond, quarrying. In all of this, we want to see greater investments so that we can add more value to our natural asset.

We’re going to continue to make investments to build out industrial parks, support manufacturing, and energy investment. We’re going to create higher value goods and services and support small and medium-sized enterprises as part of the economic transformation. With economic transformation, over the last four years, we have once again positioned Guyana as the number one country globally in producing our own food and expanding our own capacity to feed ourselves.

We also want to be the food capital of the region. To do this, we also have to transform the food ecosystem and the agricultural sector. We’re going to build a resilient and sustainable food ecosystem, support our traditional sectors with reduced input costs, and enhance production and greater profitability. We’re going to invest heavily in agriculture diversification, climate-smart agriculture, self-sufficiency in new areas through mega production systems and the creation of a regional food and marketing hub.

Important to all of this is training extension services. This will also be a major part of our investment. None of this can be possible without human transformation. Having a world-class education sector, world-class health care services and housing that meet the requirements of every Guyanese family.

Guyana in the future must be an exporter of educational and health services. We must be the preferred destination for regional and international students. We must invest in medical tourism with Guyana as a preferred provider of world-class health care. We have to do all of this whilst creating opportunities for our diaspora to also participate.

Important to all of this human transformation is high-quality moral, religious and civic education.  We must build a country in which our people have values that are held in high esteem. We are going to work with our religious community; our Mosques, our Churches, our Temples, transfer resources directly to them to help in this endeavour as we build holistic citizens.

To support this future, technological transformation, the creation of digital infrastructure to promote universal access of every aspect of ICT; universal IT literacy, IT literacy for Guyanese of all ages, digitisation for more efficient Government services, incubating digital innovation, creating an artificial intelligence ecosystem to leverage the benefit of AI across all sectors. These are the areas of the future that we will invest in heavily to ensure the prosperity and sustainability of our country and our people.

All of this must be on a bedrock in which we are secure and safe. So, the national security transformation will see technology driving our security architecture. Satellite, radar, drone technology, AI-driven threat detection and intelligence analysis, rolling out safe city and safe country, digital solutions for traffic safety, camera-based speed limit and seat belt detection, digitalised case management, cyber resilience and building human capital in our security sector are also key to this.

All of this will be done whilst empowering our men and women in uniform, giving them more benefits. Building our human capital is giving them a good standard of living and good access to training opportunities also.  We’ll be leveraging our regional partnership in support of fighting crimes, especially transnational crime. Our partners in CARICOM, SOUTHCOM, South America, and all other partners will be part of our journey towards a safe and secure nation and region.

We also will be investing in enhanced border security, greater presence at our border through technology and human assets, investments in maritime, aerial and terrestrial assets, enabling confidence and trust in the security system. All of this must be done under circumstances and conditions through which our security architecture is more service-oriented and community-led. That is what our policing must be: community-led and more service-oriented.

None of this will be possible if we do not have the institutional transformation of our country – reducing bureaucracy in accessing government services, a more vibrant, efficient and reliable judiciary, improving transparency, raising productivity, improving our efficiency and competitiveness, and having governance and regulatory framework that secure our nation, secure our resources, secure our finances.

Economic stability and maintaining the investment climate are key as we seek to sustain job creation.

We must ensure that our policies of the future will contain inflationary pressures and the risk of overheating. We will continue to pursue monetary policy adjustments that are suitable for our country and our economy. We are going to ensure that Guyana is the most attractive destination for foreign and domestic investors.

Climate resilience and sustainability is key to our security. That is why the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) must, and will, position Guyana as a global leader and pioneer in the global fight against climate change. Guyana will be positioned as a global leader in biodiversity, and what we want is for Guyana to be recognised as a thought leader and the creation of a global centre of excellence for research and education in climate and biodiversity issues. This is the Guyana we are building. This is the future we are reaching towards.

My fellow Guyanese,

In the face of external threats, we must not fracture. We must fortify. Let no difference in heritage divide us. Let no attempt at discord through political rhetoric distract us. Whether your ancestors arrived in the ships across the Atlantic, from Europe, from India or canoed down ancient rivers, each came with hope, each came with hardship, and all planted their dreams in this soil, and this soil is now ours, all of ours to defend, to nurture and to pass on. This is the meaning of One Guyana—not the erasure of difference, but the elevation of all, not sameness, but solidarity. In our diversity lies our genius, in our unity, our strength.

So today, as we mark 59 years of Independence, let us lift our eyes to the horizon. Let us join hands across regions and religions, across language and lineages, and let us move forward, not as six people, but as one people, not as divided tribes, but as one nation, not in pursuit of separate ambitions, but in commitment to our one destiny. When we claimed our independence, we pledged to be not only sovereign, but also democratic, but history has taught us that democracy is not self-sustaining. It is fragile and it demands constant vigilance.

There were years when that promise was betrayed, when elections were manipulated, ballots were abused and power was taken, not entrusted, but the people of Guyana reclaimed that democratic promise. Through struggle and sacrifice, we restored democracy, and with it, we rekindled hope. We proved that governments must answer to the governed, that elections must be free, fair and frequent, and that every vote must count because every citizen counts. That is why democracy must never be taken for granted. It is the soil from which development takes root, the shield that protects our freedom and the mirror that reflects both the legitimacy of our leaders and the conscience of our nation.

In this election year, I call upon all Guyanese, wherever you live, whatever your history is, to stand firm in the defence of our democracy. Let us reject the voices that divide, the lies that deceive, and any attempt to silence the will of the people. We must show through our words, our actions, and our votes that the democratic spirit of Guyana is not only alive, but strong, unshakable and irreversible.

Elections must not be about two or more sides, it must be about the Guyanese people peacefully making their choice. It must not be about hate, division and indignity, it must be about performance, competition of ideas and vision. It must be about track record, not empty rhetoric.

These elections must be marked with love, unity, strength of character, dignity and after the ballots are cast and the results are announced, it must be about one government, governing for One Guyana. It is about a parliamentary democracy debating with purpose and representing their constituents. It is about healing, love and moving forward in peace and fulfilment. It is about all of us doing what is right.

Let us never again be swayed otherwise and in keeping with the tenets of democracy and the construct of our Constitution, I had discussions with the Chairwoman of GECOM and having been assured of their readiness, I’ve decided to name the 1st of September 2025 as the date for national and regional elections, and in keeping with the provisions of the Constitution, I will soon issue the proclamation dissolving Parliament.

My fellow Guyanese,as we mark 59 years of freedom, let us remember that independence is not an inheritance to be admired. It is a responsibility to be honoured, and so I close by affirming the three solemn, sacred duties of every citizen of this Republic.

First, we must defend Guyana’s territory. We must defend our territorial integrity, not as a task for some, but as a duty for all, upheld with unwavering resolve. Second, we must drive development that leaves no citizen behind, building a future in which every Guyanese has a stake and a share. Third, we must safeguard our democracy, vigilantly, proudly and with ensuring love for this nation, we proudly call our own. We are not merely the inheritors of a free Guyana. We are its builders, its guardians, its bearers of the torch of nationhood. Let us pledge, on this sacred day, that we will hand to our children, not only sovereign land, but a strong, just and flourishing nation. Let this be our gift to our children and our children’s children, and may they prosper for generations to come.

May Almighty God bless each of you. May God bless and protect our beloved Republic. Happy 59th Independence anniversary, Guyana.

I stand here with love for all of you. I stand here with honour and respect for all of you. I stand here unshakeable as your President. I stand here committed to you, knowing that all of me belongs to all of you, and with every single ounce of energy that remains in me, I will serve you with honour, I will serve you with dignity, I will serve you with pride, I will serve you with trust. And with this government, with our men and women in uniform, with all those who serve together, let us embrace love, let us embrace unity. Guyana, the free, we love thee.

God bless all of you, and I thank you.