“THEY talking so much about corruption,  so much so they cannot  prove the corruption. You cannot make allegation or talk about corruption; you have to prove the corruption…” he said.“They made a lot of allegations, calling people names and saying people corrupt. So we decided to let them prove it: We went to the Courts, and you know what? A man crying now; he is in contempt of court, anytime he can go to jail. The bush doctor…”

The foregoing annecdote was told to scores of Port Mourant Corentyne residents by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Member, Zulfikar Mustapha, during a meeting at Third Street, Bangladesh, where the ruling party continued its political campaign, leading up to the May 11 General and Regional elections.

Lapsing into the vernacular to better engage his audience, Mustapha said: “The  judge ordered the Clerk of Court to go through the words of the apology many times; the man say that he will remember the words, and he still go on television and seh wrang  t’ing. Imagine dem people dah want run country and dem  can’t read wan li’l thing likka tha.
“I was going through ‘The Times’, and I was laughing just now, because dem  seh dat de Court went  through the t’ing wid de man like a school child in a primary school,  and still he go on television and talk garbage.
“So he in contempt  of court. He will be jailed; they cannot prove it. And he will now have to pay for his mouth. He also got to pay money, which we will use for charity; give to Children’s Homes.”

The former Regional Chairman’s remarks was as a result of  a Court order made by Justice Nareshwar Haranand, at the Berbice High Court on March 3.
However, legal sources close to  Mustapha are expected to file a contempt proceedings next week, after  Alliance for Change activist, Veersammy Ramayya failed to accede to an order issued by the judge.
Ramayya was given seven days  to publically apologise to Mustapha, following the filing of a libel lawsuit back in 2011.
According to Court documents seen by this reporter, Ramayya was expected to say on a television programme aired on November 19, 2011:
“I, Verasammy Ramayya, Executive Member of the AFC (Alliance For Change) alleged that Zulfikar Mustapha, who was Regional Chairman for Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) at the time, and a prominent member of the PPP/C, was corrupt and dishonest.
“I, Verasammy Ramayya, unreservedly hereby withdraw all implications made by me on the character, conduct and good name of Mr Zulfikar Mustapha. I acknowledge that the statements made were  wholly unfounded.
“I wish to express my deepest regret to Mr Zulfikar Mustapha, and wish to apologize to him and family, friends, the Regional Administration of Region Six and the RDC (Regional Democratic Council), and for any embarrassment which this may have caused him.”

However,  instead of adhering to the Court’s order  by repeating the prepared apology, Ramayya, on March 7, 2015 on a televised live broadcast during the ‘Alliance on the Move’  programme, said:
“I was ordered by the Court, and I am not very comfortable with what I have to do or say. On behalf of myself and DTV-8, we want to apologise to Zulfikar Mustapha for the allegation that was made on this television programme. So, that ends the episode with a very big full stop.”

Meanwhile, in the Tuesday March 10, 2015 edition of the Kaieteur News, 10, 2015, in an article captioned ‘AFC Ramayya publicly apologises to PPP executive’, the author noted that Ramayya had fulfilled his legal obligation as ordered by the Court.
But Mustapha’s legal team, in an invited comment  on the issue, said in response:
“What was said was not what was ordered. He was given a printed copy of what he had to say, but he deviated.”

In addition to the apology, Ramayya was ordered to pay $250,000 which, when paid, will be given to charity.

Mustapha was represented by Attorney- at-Law Adrian  Anamaya, while Veersammy’s counsel was Alliance For Change  Leader and Attorney, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan.