Anil Nandlall is a political dead weight | Straight Up

By Mark Benschop

IT really strains me to talk about someone like Anil Nandlall, since I have zero respect for him as a politician, a lawyer, and a human being, for a variety of reasons. Hence, it came as a total surprise to me when he was appointed as Guyana’s Attorney-General, under President Donald Ramotar. But, then again, the PPP was notorious for selecting certain type of individuals in key positions. My first unfortunate encounter with Anil was during the course of the politically- staged Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the trumped-up treason charge against me. I may have met him before, but was obviously too inconsequential to have been on my radar. However, it was at the PI that it became increasingly obvious that he and his side-kick, Sanjeev Datadin, would have used my case as a platform to force his way into the upper echelons of the dreaded PPP. Indeed, the trial was a complete mockery, but Anil quickly became the laughing stock as he strenuously attempted to present himself as some sort of legal luminary, by parroting the PPP’s dishonest and evil contention that there was some kind of plot to ‘overthrow’ the then increasingly tyrannical and corrupt regime. The mockery of the trial, and miscarriage of justice, will remain in my memory for as long as I live, and my view of Anil and his sidekick, Sanjeev Datadin, will remain the same. Surely, Anil’s ‘chatree’ style as a politician and public figure is no secret. And, had it been a democratic country in those dark and dangerous days, he would have lost his licence to practice law, been kicked out of the Attorney-General’s office, and banished forever in a little hut way up Monkey Mountain, into a well- deserved political wilderness.
Many of you would recall his barefaced arrogance when he used taxpayers’ money to fund a private medical bill for someone close to him as if it was the obligation of the State to take care of his domestic issue. After the matter was exposed, Anil swiftly, having absolutely no other choice, decided to repay the millions of dollars. At least, that’s what he said publicly. And, in a leaked recorded conversation between himself and a newspaper journalist, a voice resembling that of Anil said; ‘I told, I told Glenn (Lall) I sit down and talk with him. I use some money from the government and Glenn mek an issue of it. I pay back de f***ing money long before he even mek de issue and he know about it,’ Kaieteur News, 2014/10/28. Mind you, he has not refuted the leaked recordings. And that particular aspect of the conversation revealed the mindset of Anil, which suggests that by virtue of his political position, he is entitled to utilise taxpayers’ dollars for his personal gains. But, that was just the tip of the iceberg of that conversation, most of which would make Ronald Reagan’s conversation with Richard Nixon look like ‘rice pop.’

I am almost certain that most Guyanese would recall the contempt and obviously criminal nature in his alleged threatening words directed to the reporters and staff of the Kaieteur News; “No, hear nah, you know how it gon stop? Somebody gon go into Kaieteur, you see everybody nah gat as I told Adam today. I said Adam, everbody don’t joust.. everybody, wait hold on… everybody doesn’t have a newspaper to use as a weapon. I told Adam, I said Adam, people got weapons right, is not newspaper they gonna use as a weapon they got weapons and when you continue attack people like that and they have no way of responding, they gon just walk with their weapon into that same f**king Saffon Street office and wha come suh do and innocent. Peter gun gah pay fuh f**king Paul in deh one day, me ah tell you innocent, me a tell you honestly man to man that will happen soon…”
Again, he has not refuted the contents of the tape recording. Unfortunately, the conversation with the reporter continued: “I think that you should, my first advice to you is that you should move out of there… it is a dangerous f**king place to work, is a dangerous place because that, I am telling you, read between the lines this thing not going to go on for long, people not going to tek this thing just so is a lot of powerful people that this man, wait ,nobody never used to bother with he before right, and he used to getaway, get through with all wha he publishing but people get, people get sensitive now, they were chatree coolie rass, you know what is chatree…” Yes, those were the days when Anil thought that he was on top of the world, and as is evident, he behaved as though he was above the law, and someone that was untouchable. Again, this was how the then President and members of the Cabinet ran the country, as if it was their personal plantation. In closing, one cannot forget the name Courtney Crum-Ewing, who was killed a few blocks from his home while urging folks to vote for the APNU/AFC coalition in the then 2015 General and Regional Elections. Controversial Information Laison Officer to the President, Kwame McCoy and the then driver/bodyguard of Anil (Rajput) were questioned in relation to the killing. However, there has been no concrete (or any other) evidence linking them to the killing of Courtney. Oh and before I go, let’s not forget the taxpayers’ law books that are still in the possession of Anil, who barefacedly claimed that it was gifted to him by then President Ramotar. It is just another case of Anil believing that there’s some sort of entitlement by virtue of his position. Thus, apart from his obvious arrogance, I wish to say this loud and clear; Anil Nandlall is a political dead weight – an unruly horse.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp
All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.