THE Local Government Commission (LGC) is awaiting the written High Court ruling on the dismissal of the former Town Clerk, Royston King, before it makes a decision on the way forward.

“We have not received the written judgement so we have not discussed the matter as yet,” said Chairman of the LGC, Mortimer Mingo, in an invited comment, on Monday.
The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the operations of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) was deemed unlawful and void by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Demerara High Court.

Former Town Clerk, Royston King, had challenged the Local Government Commission (LGC) on his “wrongful dismissal.”

In January 2019, King was served with a dismissal letter by the LGC after he did not respond verbally, or in writing, to the charges laid against him, having appeared before the body on Wednesday, January 23, 2019.

He was dismissed by the LGC following recommendations from the CoI. Based on the inquiry’s recommendations, King was charged with gross misconduct, abuse of office, recklessness, dishonesty, conspiracy, and misappropriation of funds at the municipality.
However, in February 2019, King moved to the High Court to challenge his dismissal.
On Friday, Justice Morris-Ramlall, during her ruling, said the LGC unlawfully delegated its investigatory powers to the CoI, which was not part of the LGC or attached to it.

Additionally, the LGC disinvested itself from the CoI when it transferred the investigation and unlawfully delegated its powers.

By doing this, the LCG committed an error of law and the decisions made by the CoI must be squashed. Thus, the setting up of the CoI, the investigation, findings and recommendations were deemed void and unlawful.

When asked about how the commission is going to treat with the ruling, Mingo said: “We are seeing different things…we need to get the written judgement then the commission will meet and decide on a way forward.”

The LGC had ordered the CoI into operations of the M&CC last year September, after having received numerous complaints against the municipality, several of which focused directly on the actions of King. King was sent on administrative leave from September 21 to facilitate investigations.

The CoI held public hearings from September 24 to November 2, 2018, and a report was submitted on November 30. Justice (ret’d) Cecil Kennard presided as the chairman and sole commissioner of the CoI.

The report contained some 31 recommendations, including the call for a forensic audit, criminal charges and disciplinary action against King, as well as against seven other officers of City Hall for various infractions ranging from dereliction of duty and incompetence to conspiracy.