AS reports coming out of his office show a number of financial improprieties by the previous Donald Ramotar Administration, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams has declared there should be one final sitting of the Rodney Commission of Inquiry. The fate of the inquiry hangs in the balance as Cabinet is set to review its terms, which the Attorney General is adamant was devised by the Ramotar Administration as a “witch-hunt” against the pre-1992 Peoples’ National Congress (PNC) Government.
Williams told reporters at his office yesterday, “We are supposed to be dealing with submissions but [this] depends on what decision is taken by Cabinet in terms of the length of continuing the life of this Commission of Inquiry.”
“My proposal”, he continued, “is that it should be one final sitting where submissions should be made.”
Since assuming office as Attorney General earlier in the week, Williams had uncovered that the Commission, which was convened by former President Donald Ramotar, after an announcement in June 2013, has racked up a total expenditure in excess of $325M.
Out of that expenditure, it was further brought to light that state media journalist Shaun Michael Samaroo was allegedly paid a monthly rate of US$7300 under contract with the former Ramotar Administration.
“Mr. Shaun Samaroo was in the Commission from day one. And he came to my attention when I saw him. But I didn’t know who he was,” the Attorney General added.
When asked whether the David Granger Administration would retain the services of Samaroo for the remainder of the Commission, Williams responded saying that Cabinet will have to take up that matter.
Since the allegations against him were widely circulated in the media, Samaroo has come out saying that the previous Government had contracted him to write a book from the proceedings of the Commission.
“You could check from the beginning of the RCoI [Rodney Commission of Inquiry] and you would see that every day he would have written, so I don’t know which book he was talking about, but we know that he was covering the inquiry and he was distorting the proceedings,” Williams countered.
In the Commission of Inquiry, Williams had represented the interest of the former PNC Government and was vocal on what he perceived to be a “witch-hunt” of the entity he represented. During that time, Williams said he had raised concerns about Samaroo’s reports in the Guyana Chronicle to the Chairman of the Commission.
As Attorney General, Williams can no longer serve on the Commission as counsel for the former PNC Government. When asked whether his party had yet considered a replacement for him on the Commission, the AG said that it has not come up as yet, but he tipped that Attorney-at-Law James Bond is a proposed candidate for the position.
Bond, who served as a member of the 10th Parliament, had been present at the Commission for a number of sittings.
This publication had contacted Bond via phone on Thursday to inquire whether he would assume Williams’s post on the CoI. He responded in the negative with an indication that he has “received no instruction.”
Bond instead threw his support behind Attorney-at-Law Roger Yearwood while citing his competency to pursue the interest of the entity Williams represented.
In that interview, Bond said: “the position of the Government is that work must continue, but we must look at winding it down. We want the commission to conclude its work and we would not try to stymie the work. We are hoping to double their workload so that it is not laborious on the pockets of the Guyanese people.”

By Derwayne Wills