Describing it as a travesty, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo came out swinging against the nullification of private criminal charges the People’s Progressive Party brought against five sitting Government Ministers.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo
Making a comparison to the charge of racial incitement he faced in 2015, Jagdeo described the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision to nix the ones against the Ministers as a travesty. He noted that back in 2015, there was no Police investigation into his matter yet the DPP did not intervene.
“She was written to and the lawyers pointed out the flaws in the charge. She never responded, never nullified them, and never argued they should have gone to the Police before. And so we had to go through the court system and finally I was vindicated. If you look at the charge itself, how flawed it was, that was a prime case for nullification.
DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack
“These charges that are being instituted against several Ministers are serious charges. They deal with large sums of money being squandered or corruptly being given with the direct knowledge and involvement of Ministers.”
Jagdeo questioned the squashing of the charges against the Ministers on the grounds of good governance. According to the former President, good governance would actually equate to rooting out corruption and either proving or disproving such claims.
“I would have thought everyone in Guyana, including the DPP, in the cause of good governance would have wanted the people who were so charged to go to court and see if the courts would vindicate or convict them. She argued that the charges didn’t go to the Police and in the cause of good governance, she is withdrawing these charges. What good governance?”
The charges
The DPP had dismissed misconduct charges filed last week against Finance Minister Winston Jordan, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, and Public Service Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall as the Attorney, and Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Juan Edghill as an applicant.
The charges against the Ministers alleged a breach of the Procurement Act in relation to the expenditure of $906 million in public funds to a private company, Homestretch Development Inc, for construction of the controversial D’Urban Park Project, which has, for some time now, been a contentious issue.
Jordan and Patterson were jointly charged with misconduct and abuse of public trust for having allegedly authorised the payment, while Dr Roopnaraine, who was a director of the company, was charged with alleged misconduct and the abuse of public trust for having received, in his capacity as director, the $906 million in public funds while serving as Minister.
However, the DPP’s Chambers said in a statement issued late Thursday afternoon that the private criminal charges against Ministers Jordan, Patterson and Roopnaraine, for misconduct in public office contrary to the common law, were discontinued by the DPP under Article 187 (1)(c) of the Constitution.
This was the second set of charges filed by the Opposition that the DPP has thrown out, citing the same reasons. Last week, she also discontinued charges against Government Ministers Volda Lawrence and Dr George Norton that were filed respectively over the sole-sourcing of more than $600 million in drugs and other pharmaceuticals for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, and the rental of a house in Sussex Street, Albouystown, Georgetown to be utilised as a drug bond at a cost of $12 million monthly.
