PM to defend advice to president on Duncan tribunal

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo yesterday said he will defend his advice to President David Granger to investigate whether Public Service Commission Chairman Carvil Duncan should be removed from the constitutional post.

Nagamootoo, according to a statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), was yesterday served with an Order of Court that was issued based on an application by Duncan, who challenged the president’s decision to set up a tribunal to investigate whether he ought to be removed.

Based on Duncan’s application, Justice Franklin Holder on Thursday issued an order provisionally quashing Nagamootoo’s advice, on the grounds that it was tendered unlawfully.

The order will be made absolute unless Nagamootoo makes a case for his actions. Justice Holder also ordered that the tribunal and each of the members appointed be prohibited from proceeding to investigate Duncan’s removal.

Duncan, in his application, argued that Nagamootoo’s advice to the president was unlawful because he was never afforded the opportunity to be heard prior to the decision to move to initiate the investigation and that the establishment of the tribunal was in violation of his constitutional right to the presumption of innocence.

While Nagamootoo has claimed that Duncan was written about the tribunal in March, Duncan has maintained that he never received any correspondence and that his requests to the Prime Minister to prove delivery have been ignored.

The OPM statement yesterday said the letter was in fact delivered.

The establishment of the tribunal was prompted by criminal charges laid against Duncan for larceny and conspiracy to commit a felony while he held the post of Chairman of the Public Service Commission and membership on the Judicial Service Commission and the Police Service Commissions.

However, Duncan contends that the inquiry by the tribunal prejudices his right to a fair trial as it reflects a premature conclusion and/or opinion by the State that he is guilty even before he is tried and proved guilty before the court where he is on trial for the criminal charges.

Duncan has been charged with stealing and conspiring to steal from the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), while he was a serving member of its governing board.

It is alleged that he stole $984,900, and conspired with another to steal $27,757,500, which was also property of GPL.

The charges against Duncan stem from payments that were made to him and to former Deputy Chief Executive Officer Aeshwar Deonarine and which were uncovered by a forensic audit that was commissioned after the APNU+AFC government entered office last year.