GNBA Directors threaten Chairman with lawsuit

…has no authority to pronounce on matter – Attorneys

Directors on the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA), Anthony Vieira and Victor Insanally have threatened legal proceedings against the entity’s Chairman, Leonard Craig, should he not apologise to the duo in face of corruption allegations that were disseminated in the public domain.

The duo have since secured the services of Satram and Satram Law Firm, which on Friday charged that Craig was in fact looking to discredit Vieira and Insanally, as directors of the entity with a view to having them removed as directors.

The charges by the duo comes on the heels of allegations made public by Craig, that the men had in fact approached an Essequibo businessman in an attempt to ostensibly force him out of business.

According to a copy of the Attorney’s letter seen by Guyana Times, Craig is being accused of intentionally and maliciously circulating in the media, an unwarranted allegation which imputes that they were in fact guilty of corruption in public office.

The duo have since sought to explain that the allegations against them are in fact being made by a person who was engaged in an illegal activity, since he is operating a broadcasting entity without a lawful licence.

The duo — through their lawyers have since also claimed that the allegations by the GNBA Chairman was in fact made public without either of them being given a chance at a fair hearing with an opportunity to respond to the claims made.

Craig, in a public statement on Wednesday said Kenwin Charles of Northwest TV Inc had asked to meet with him to highlight several concerns and at “that meeting he made a complaint essentially accusing Mr Anthony Vieira and Mr Victor Insanally of trying to improperly force him out of doing business on the Essequibo Coast where he had made significant capital investments.”

Craig at the time confirmed too, that at the meeting with Charles, he indicated that he (Charles) met with the Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, where a similar complaint was lodged.

He said, “I will carry out a complete investigation of the facts relating to matters raised by Mr Charles, I will review the reports of the meetings, elicit a response from the members concerned and will release an official statement in the coming days.”

But Vieira and Insanally — having secured the services of Satram and Satram, have since said that there were no steps taken by the GNBA Board to verify the claims by the Essequibo businessman.

In fact, Vieira and Insanally have since maintained that there is no truth in the allegations by Charles and have pointed out too that the Essequibo businessman is in no position to sell his operations — as intimated in Craig’s claims — since his operation is currently unlawful.

The duo through their lawyers also claimed that the GNBA board chairman in fact has no authority to investigate or pronounce on the matter.

In the lawyer letter issued to Craig, the attorneys have since called for an apology, pointing out too that, “our clients are entitled to damages for the defamation and reputational injury caused as a direct result of your conduct.”

Meanwhile Craig in an invited comment earlier on Friday, assured the media that any assessment or actions on his part would be undertaken in a fair and objective manner.

He did seek to point out however that, “I may not be the final arbiter in this matter but as Chair of the Board I think it is my responsibility to gather evidence and give persons an opportunity to respond to any accusations.” At the time of speaking to the media, Craig said he was not officially in receipt of any correspondence from the two accused directors but had spoken to one of them individually who had raised the matter with him verbally.

Asked about how the matter will be proceeded with, Craig told the media that he was uncertain, since Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo was currently extremely busy and “as soon as he settles down we will have a meeting and he will determine the way forward…but for now I think it is my responsibility to ask the persons being accused to provide a response.”

Craig said too, he is of the belief that it is his responsibility to compile the responses “and present as is, to the Prime Minister.”

According to Craig, “in terms of making a judgment call…I don’t think I should be that person to make that judgment call.”

Asked about the operations and functioning of the GNBA board in the interim, Craig said the work of the unit will have to be proceeded with “because we are bounded by law to serve the people and we must continue the work at hand…I hope that these allegations would not immobilise the members of the board from performing their duty in the interim.”

Craig on Wednesday had made public his views that, “Despite his (Vieira) abusive and obstructionists approach to my tenure as Chairman of the GNBA, I have displayed extreme restraint and immeasurable patience and have continually pledged to work with him and all other members of the Board to achieve the best objectives and ensure Public Interest is served.”