THE report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the allegations of corruption and misconduct made by Kenwin Charles against two directors of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) was on Friday handed over to Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo by Major General (ret’d) Joseph Singh, who was tasked with conducting the inquiry.Singh said that all persons interviewed over the last few weeks were cooperative. He told Guyana Chronicle that he assessed the information based on the terms of reference (ToR) put to him, and made the appropriate recommendations based on the information before him.

“I followed the normal protocols of assembling the information (and) assessing (same) based on my reading of the information: who were the key persons needed to be interviewed and have their statements recorded,” Singh said.

He said information was forthcoming from the twelve interviewees, and he noted that all of the directors of the GNBA, along with senior and technical staff, were interviewed.

“I believe we cast our net and got responses,” he told Guyana Chronicle.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, in accepting the bulky report, thanked Singh for producing the report in a timely manner. He described the CoI as necessary because of the “serious allegations” levelled against the members of the GNBA, and said, “I consider that the investigation had become necessary because very serious allegations have been made that would impact on, and affect the integrity of, certain persons in public life and their standing in the communities.”

The Prime Minister, who has oversight of the broadcast sector, said wherever such allegations are made, investigations ought to be conducted to ascertain the facts. He said, too, that allegations of corruption against those who hold statutory offices must be examined with urgency, as the integrity of those officers is at stake. “I look forward to reading this report,” he said.

Major-General Singh had worked closely with the Legal Advisor from the Ministry of the Presidency, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, to ensure all aspects of the ToR were satisfied.

Essequibo cable broadcaster Kenwin Charles, of Northwest TV Inc., has claimed that GNBA Directors Anthony Vieira and Vic Insanally had tried to improperly force him to stop doing business on the Essequibo Coast, former GNBA Chairman Leonard Craig had stated in a press release.

The charge, denied by both Vieira and Insanally, resulted in Vieira — the former owner of VCT Channel 28 — accusing Charles of trying to discredit him. Vieira told another section of the media that he and Insanally had only explained to Charles that his service was illegal and that he should stop transmitting and apply to have it regularised.

“He is totally misrepresenting this matter, and will have to stop it or I am going to take him to court. That man has to come off the air…he is violating the law. He does not have a licence, and is operating on 600MHZ UHF not even MMDS (Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service) you know. It deprives those who want a frequency and interrupts other services,” Vieira told Stabroek News.

“We want to sell those frequencies as franchises…and he does not have a licence, so he has to first get regularised…,” Vieira explained.