Last Updated on March 22, 2020, 8:14 PM AST by Anthony Morris
Neither the Prime Minister nor the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) has taken any action even though almost three weeks have passed since Lindsay Grant, Minister of Tourism and former Leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM), was found guilty of misappropriating US$460,000.00 from a former client.
The Prime Minister’s silence on Covid-19 and the Grant issue are as inexplicable as they are inconsistent with the requirements of the Office and the dictates of leadership, especially in times of crisis. Covid-19 is a pandemic and global killer. It demands action from all countries and the World Health Organisation (WHO) expects Governments to take charge. This is not happening in St Kitts and Nevis (SKN) even though the Prime Ministers of all the other Caribbean countries took direct command from the first signs of the problem and have continued, some on a daily basis, to demonstrate who’s in charge.
The Grant issue is also of considerable importance to Governance in our country and will further lower our status as a regional leader. The Prime Minister should have immediately fired Grant from his Cabinet and still has not done so without giving any reason for his actions or lack of them. In the meantime, DPP, Valston Graham, a citizen of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who can vote in SKN’s elections, was present, front and centre, at a political event held by the PAM leader, Shawn Richards on the 25th August, 2018. When DPP Graham was appointed to Office he promised that “the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution will discharge their duties in a professional manner which is guided by fairness in the manner in which we conduct our duties.” Clearly, he has seen the writing on the Election wall and is hoping that by breaking the rules of neutrality, non-interference and non-participation in politics, he will be retained as DPP after the next election due for the latest on August 15th 2020. He is also betting, wrongly as the internal polls show, on who will be the next Prime Minister of SKN.
Others are not as cocksure as Graham about their choice. It is reported that the CEO of the Development Bank, Len Harris, is now on contract and the loss of the Election by Team Unity will mean he has to be paid five (5) years’ salary. It is also being said that the same deal is being sought by the Director of Social Security.
All this insecurity has led to what has been interpreted by most in SKN as deliberate political persecution. From their perspective, the first steps were immediately after Team Unity took power in 2015 and immediately removed the DPP, Travis Sinanan, and Commissioner of Police, C.G. Walwyn. Then a number of public servants returning to work after the elections were met by armed police who escorted them out of the Saint Kitts Investment Promotion Office (SKIPA) building. The persecution continued when Mathew McMillan, a political consultant for the Nevis Reformation Party was arrested for “invasion of privacy.” McMillan sued the Team Unity Government on the grounds of wrongful arrest, imprisonment and unlawful search and won handsomely.
Then the reason for getting rid of DPP Sinanan seemed to have come to light when money laundering charges against David Elroy Hendrickson concerning funds received from Iraq were dropped. In the meantime, while Team Unity is easing up its own miscreants, it has conducted a vendetta against the SKNLP membership, including Candidate for Constituency #7, Leon Natta-Nelson.
The latest issue involving Team Unity, is the Lindsay Grant conviction which now seems to be in limbo. This is particularly concerning since we understand that Inspector Sutton, the Head of the White Collar Unit tasked with investigating Grant and his law partner Mr. Powell and this matter, was unceremoniously transferred out of the White Collar Unit to the Dieppe Bay Police Station and the file was ‘lost’ so that the investigation Inspector Sutton was carried out against Grant and his law partner Mr. Powell has come to nought. In the meantime, Grant is still functioning as Minister of Tourism, the man found guilty of misappropriating US$460,000 from a client, breach of trust and his fiduciary duties to a former client. Grant continues as Minister of Tourism even boasting that the Government of St Kitts and Nevis is on high alert for Covid-19 despite the Prime Minister not saying anything at all to the population. It is clear that the Government is in shambles, clueless and hitting out wildly against its political opponents. There will be more defections from the Team Unity party and Government as the faecal matter hits the fan and the toilet-paper shortage is felt in this and other countries.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
