ATTORNEY-General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams has hinted at the possibility of civil actions being taken against the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Members of Parliament who have brought private criminal charges against five ministers of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government.

The private criminal charges filed against Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence; Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr. George Norton; Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan; Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson; and Minister of Public Service, Rupert Roopnaraine for the offence of Misconduct in Public Office were all dismissed by Director of Public Prosecutions, (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack.

Responding to questions on the developing issue during a press conference at his Carmichael Street, Georgetown office, the Attorney General opined that the PPP MPs who filed the private criminal charges would desist from such actions once civil actions are taken.

“I know when they have to pay millions of dollars for these malicious charges, both in libel and malicious prosecution, that would be sufficient persuasion,” Minister Williams told reporters.

He noted that the private criminal charges filed by former Attorney General under the PPP Administration, Anil Nandlall, on behalf of PPP MPs Juan Edghill and Vickram Bharrat, had no grounds and no supporting evidence, and as such were simply malicious.
“So they will have to pay for that,” he posited. However, while hinting at civil actions, the Attorney General noted that the affected ministers would have to hire their own lawyers to defend their reputation. On Wednesday, the DPP discontinued the private criminal charges instituted against Minister Jordan, Minister Patterson and Minister Roopnaraine, explaining that they were contrary to the Common Law.

In letters dated April 23, 2018 and addressed to Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, the DPP said “in pursuance of the functions of the Director of Public Prosecutions vested in article 187 (1) (c) of the Constitution of Guyana, I hereby inform you that the charge [s] instituted shall not continue against Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine (Winston Jordan and David Patterson) for the offence of Misconduct in Public Office, contrary to the Common Law.”
The PPP MPs had accused Minister Jordan and Minister Patterson of “wilfully misconducting themselves in a way which amounted to an abuse of public trust without reasonable excuse or justification,” when they paid or authorised to be paid the sum of $906,000,000 to Homestretch Development Incorporated for works done at the Durban Jubilee Park without any procurement process.

In a similar fashion, Dr. Roopnaraine was accused of abusing the public’s trust when he acted as a Director of Homestretch Development Incorporated, when the said company received $906M for works done at Durban Park.

Those private criminal charges were filed by Nandlall on Monday, the same day the DPP had discontinued similar charges filed against Minister Lawrence and Minister Norton. In taking a decision to discontinue the charges filed against Lawrence and Dr. Norton, the DPP explained to the press that the charges ought to have been reported to the police first for an investigation to be launched, then advice sought from her office. The charges were discontinued by the DPP by way of Article 187 (1) (c) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

“These charges concern a grave issue under the criminal law in relation to two serving ministers. In the interest of good governance in the State of Guyana, such allegations ought first to have been reported to the Guyana Police Force for an investigation to be launched and the advice of the DPP sought,” the DPP explained.

Lawrence was accused of authorizing or causing the unapproved single-sourcing and purchase of drugs and medical supplies for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, in the city of Georgetown from ANSA McAL Trading Limited for the excessive sum of $605.9M. The allegation was made against the Public Health Minister even though the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) had long cleared her of any wrong-doing.

On the other hand, Dr. Norton while performing the duties of Minister of Public Health, allegedly abused the public’s trust when he authorised or caused the rental of the Lot 29 Sussex Street, Albouystown Bond from Linden Holdings Incorporated for the sum of $12.5M, exclusive of VAT, per month.

The private criminal charges filed against the government ministers followed charges instituted against former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh and former head of NICIL, Winston Brassington, by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) for Misconduct in Public Office.

The duo is to appear before the court on May 7, 2018 to answer charges relating to the sale of state lands at prices below what they were valued. Government has since described the move by the PPP as malicious and represented political grandstanding.