I have tried my best to remain
out of politics and to live my life on the fringe of society. However, more and
more as I look on I see this beautiful country of ours being destroyed and torn
apart by a marauding band of characters whose stance in society is taken on the
basis of convenience and crooked reasoning. Funny enough most times there is
nothing monetary to gain from it except the castigation of certain people in
society and the annihilation of others.
I was watching the movie the
3:10 to Yuma when Russell Crowe’s gang of bandits, thieves, ex-convicts and
misfits came to rescue him from hands of the Marshalls and the railroad
detectives. Being out numbered the Marshalls decided to surrender and lay down
their guns and exit the building with their hands in the air. Upon their exit
they were promptly shot to death by the gang.
It struck me forcefully that me
having ‘laid down my guns’ may not prevent me from being ‘summarily executed’
and that in the event that I am to be executed I would prefer to ‘fire a few
bullets’ first or at least go down with my gun in my hand.
This is the first in a series
of articles I plan to write on a number of matters now facing our country. I
have formed the view that I must do this or die but certainly do it before I
die. In my next article I will tell you about something else from the movie the
3:10 to Yuma that made me get off my ass and write.
I want to take you back to the
early 1990’s under the NDC government of then Prime Minister Sir. Nicholas
Braithwaite, Minister of Finance Mr. George Brizan, Prime Minister Tilman Thomas
was member of Cabinet and the Secretary to the Cabinet was Mrs. Gloria Payne-
Banfield. Cabinet took a decision to establish the Capital Development Fund (CDF)
outside of the Consolidated Fund (CF). The express objective of the CDF was to
circumvent the Constitution of Grenada and hold monies due to the Government of
Grenada in a Fund outside of the CF. Several monies due to the Government of
Grenada were placed in that fund from time to time over a period of a number of
years. Funds were also withdrawn from that fund without the necessary accounting
and financial controls as established for the operation of the CF
The most glaring example arose
on the sale of Grenlec. The proceeds of the sale were never deposited into the
Consolidated Fund. The full proceeds, in excess of $15 Million, was paid to the
negotiators who in turn deducted their substantial fees and expenses before
depositing the remainder, around $13 Million, into the Capital Development Fund
(CDF).
The CDF was operated as a piggy
bank and was open all hours, even on Sundays. Obviously the CDF became known for
its loose accounting and undefined parameters of payment. In the ensuing period
a substantial amount of monies in the CDF were unaccounted for (in excess of $2
Million). Let me use this opportunity to clarify a deliberate distortion of the
facts back then and to repeat for emphasis that the funds were unaccounted for.
Now I want to take you to 1996
and the Commission of inquiry. Inter alia, the Commission should have addressed
two matters and clarified the position regarding these issues once and for all.
Did Cabinet have the Authority
to set up a fund (the CDF) outside the Consolidated Fund (CF) and by extension
was this a violation of the Constitution?; and
Who should accept
responsibility for the $2 Million unaccounted for within the Fund?
The Commission of Inquiry lost
its way and attempted to address a number of other irrelevant matters which
quickly deteriorated into a political fiasco and I had to sit through all of it
and in the end ‘He who paid the Piper called the tune’ and a Golden opportunity
was lost to answer these questions.
In my opinion:
Did Cabinet have the Authority?
The simple answer is no. Over
the years Cabinet has arrogated unto itself several functions that previously
lay either in the domain of Ministers or in the domain of Parliament. Cabinet
has become the Judge, Jury and Executioner of Projects and other national
development matters. Even in instances where the Law clearly gives the authority
to the Minister to perform a particular function the Minister always takes it to
Cabinet for a decision. The safety valve of course is that the Minister can
always hide behind the veil of Joint and several responsibility of the Cabinet.
Unfortunately Cabinet cannot
override the Constitution.
Who was responsible?
Given the answer to question
one, question two is a no brainer. Clearly Cabinet is responsible. I remember as
if it were yesterday my shock and awe at my friend Richard Duncan ‘being thrown
under the bus’ by Sir Nicolas, George Brizan and others. The members of Cabinet
who were responsible for setting up and maintaining the CDF and attended the
Inquiry claimed ignorance and fled. It should not have been that way.
This brings us to the current
situation involving a promise by Global Petroleum Group (GPG) to make certain
payments to the Government of Grenada. Poor Mr. Gregory Bowen. Mr. Bowen was a
member of Cabinet. He did not act alone. The decisions must have been made at a
Cabinet level.
Further, I have not been in the
Ministry of Finance in ten years and no doubt things could have changed but I
can illustrate several examples during my tenure where funding agencies have
made direct payments to companies and individuals, under a project agreement, of
funds which should normally have been deposited into the Consolidated Fund prior
to first disbursement.
During one of my last
negotiations in Brussels with the European Union I recall a decision to channel
funds directly to Non- Governmental Organizations and Civil Society out of the
Country allocation without going through the Consolidated Fund.
My conclusion is that people
say things on the spur of the moment simply to support a given position without
considering the impact of what they are saying. This reckless attitude is
tearing away at the guts of our society and destroying our way of life. We are
becoming heinous zombies and monsters laughing and braying at each other’s
errors or omissions. We boast about putting people in jail and we laugh when
others fail.
I want Mrs. Payne-Banfield and
Prime Minister Tillman Thomas to cast their minds back to the CDF and to modify
their current public statements accordingly.
Most of all I call on this
current NDC government in their myopic and callous minds to commence issuing
warrants of arrests to the so called wrongdoers for all the visions of
wrongdoing that they continue claim went on in Grenada over the past few years
forthwith, or shut up.
The continued speculation and
false allegations of incidents and occurrences, figments of their own
imagination, will only continue to tear our land apart.
- Garvey Louison FCCA
- Chartered Certified Accountant
- April 26th, 2010
Note: The views expressed above are those of the writer and not necessarily
the views of the New National Party
