The showdown at the Local Government Commission on Friday involving Commissioner Carol Sooba being barred from discussions on City Hall’s Commission of Inquiry findings, has been dubbed as baseless and further violates her rights as a duly elected office-bearer.
Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall
Former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall shared these views on Saturday, as he stressed on the fact that the Commission of Inquiry would have compiled the findings and the LGC was only responsible for implementing the report. Strongly rejecting the decision to prevent her from sitting at the meetings, the attorney posited that Sooba’s presence is essential to her appointment as a Commissioner and further questioned the grounds under which she was banned.
“I reject such a notion because the Local Government Commission is simply engaged in considering the report and possibly, to recommend or implement these recommendations. The Commission is not making any findings. Those findings have already been made by the CoI. I cannot imagine how Sooba’s presence can influence our prejudice,” said Nandlall.
“On what basis are you excluding her? The report is already completed. What is going on now is examining the report to determine its implementation. As a duly appointed member of the Commission, if the commission was assigned that responsibility, then she must play a part,” he added.
Sooba was asked to recuse herself from one of the sittings, which dealt with the recommendation to have her be paid her benefits from City Hall. This publication was told that Sooba agreed and recused herself from that particular sitting, but she was subsequently asked to remove herself from all other meetings.
She confirmed to Guyana Times that she was asked to recuse herself from the meetings after tenacious action on the part of the Chairman, Mortimer Mingo and Vice-Chairman, Andrew Garnett.
Commissioner Carol Sooba
After looking at the reports, the former Attorney General insisted that it was understandable that the LGC prevented Sooba from attending discussions related to her concerns. However, as a Commissioner, she should be entitled to sit on the committee to hear other matters.
“The basis of prevent… of preventing her seems to be the fact that the Commission is considering the reports of retired Justice Cecil Kennard, who recently concluded an inquiry into certain aspects of the management of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council. I gather that the thinking is because Sooba, a former town clerk, formed part of the inquiry and that compensations were recommended for what the report termed her wrongful dismissal. Based on the reports, there seems to be no basis to lawfully prevent or disallow Sooba who is a duly appointed member of the Local Government Commission, from performing the functions of the office to which she was appointed,” he mentioned.
During Friday’s clash, some Commissioners went against the decision of the Chairman thus maintaining that Sooba should be present at the meeting. While they were in the process of deliberating on the report, sources informed this publication that a fraction of City Hall’s employees will present themselves at the next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday.
Efforts to contact the Chairman, Mortimer Mingo, for a comment proved futile.
Criminal charges were recommended for embattled Town Clerk, Royston King, for leasing lands which are owned by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL).
Similar actions followed for the Acting Town Clerk, Sharon Harry-Munroe; Internal Auditor, Omadeily Newton; City Constable, Andrew Foo; Human Resources Manager, Paula Braithwaite and others.
Evidence presented to Inquiry indicated that former Mayor Patricia Chase-Green and Town Clerk, Royston King have not been working collectively to meet the needs of the city.
Meanwhile, one of the most important instructions was to have the Council establish a functioning legal division with an attorney-at-law who can assist in any legal matters that arise.
The CoI also called for the Mayor to send the No-Confidence Motion against King to the Local Government Commission for deliberations. The motion was filed by Councillor Sherod Duncan and it was revealed that the Mayor allowed King to seek advice from his lawyer, Maxwell Edwards which was later presented to the Council.
The Chairman, Justice Kennard requested that the Commission take precedence over the matter since the Council does not have the remit to relieve King of his duties.
