I THINK apologies are in order for the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Anil Nandlall. By now everyone should know of the impugned recording that was attributed to the minister which came about because the Kaieteur News unscrupulously, unethically and without the authorisation of the minster taped, manipulated and distorted a private conversation between the minister and a journalist attached to the newspaper.The Attorney General has, since the publication of that recording by Kaieteur News, made a public statement where he addressed aspects of the recording which have been attributed to him.
One of those aspects, which had caused quite a stir among the proponents of the combined Opposition, Kaieteur News and indeed, some members of civil society, was Nandlall speaking about medical expenses being paid for, using government financing, which he subsequently refunded.
In his statement to the public on the impugned recording, the minister said, “I wish to set the record straight on that issue. The reference relates to the reimbursement I received for monies I expended on medical treatment. This reimbursement was approved by Cabinet in a written Cabinet decision dated 20 June 2013. This is, and historically has been, an entitlement of every member of Cabinet long before my appointment.”
Even though the minister vindicated himself from the impugned recording, the onslaught over his use of the public funds still continued, with the Opposition aligned Kaieteur News blazing on the front burner as usual, misinformed, reckless and unsubstantiated information.
Those reckless assertions have not diminished, causing the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon to address the issue. In a Chronicle news article dated 13th November 2014, captioned ‘No financial impropriety affording Cabinet members medical allowance – HPS’, Dr. Luncheon cleared the air over the financing and vindicated what the Attorney General was saying all along.
Dr. Luncheon was quoted as saying, “Most of the Cabinet members benefit from the provision of expenses; this is a provision where expenses are met, incurred by the Cabinet member and the members of their immediate family. They essentially present Cabinet with documentation, based on which the authorisation is provided by the Cabinet for the Ministry of Health to cover those expenses.”
He said also that, “the rule of thumb is once it is a medical expense and the documentation is made available, the Cabinet office authorises payment” and even went further to state that such a practice is not a strange one and that some Cabinet members utilise it while others choose not to.
To all of those persons, who hurried in haste to condemn the minister, to be the judge, jury and executioner without allowing natural justice to take place, I say to you, that an apology is in order for the minister. We are often too quick to take sides and form conclusions prematurely; this I must say is something that Kaieteur News knows only too well.
Furthermore, to all those persons who have been calling for the resignation of the Attorney General such as the Guyana Bar Association/Guyana Association of Women Lawyers, members of the combined Opposition, such as Mr. Sasenarine Singh among others who are supposed to be learned men/women, they should know better and conduct themselves more impartially. None can discredit the indispensable amount of excellent work that this Attorney General has done for his country.
We should not be so easily swayed to discredit, malign and cast aspersions, especially when our private conversations which most if not all of us discuss in an atmosphere of lightness and confidentiality can apparently now and at any point in time be tapped and published without our consent/authorisation.
I don’t think anyone of those critics would acquiesce to the contents of their private conversations being randomly recorded, manipulated and published without their consent for all and sundry to consume. If you wouldn’t like it for yourself, you shouldn’t like it for others. Maybe that is a lesson the Kaieteur News should inculcate.
FARUK MOHAMED