Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jun 06, 2015 News
The payment of $16M to journalist Shaun Samaroo for the covering of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (CoI) will be up for discussion in Cabinet.
This is according to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams who said yesterday that he could not say whether any current contracts with Samaroo would be honoured. Instead, he said, Cabinet will deliberate on the issue.
“That is a matter for Cabinet but what I do know is that, Mr. Shaun Samaroo was in the Commission from day one,” Williams said.
He explained that he was unaware of who Samaroo was until an article was published in the Guyana Chronicle. “You would see that every day he would have written. So, I don’t know which book he’s talking about, but we know that he was covering the Inquiry and he was distorting a lot of times,” the AG said.
He said too, that these distortions were raised on a number of occasions with the Commission’s Chairman, Sir Richard Cheltenham.
He further said that he could not fathom what the reasoning by the previous administration had been to approach Samaroo with the $16M offer.
“I don’t know what was in their minds…But we don’t know of honouring any debts of Mr. Samaroo. We had from the outset complained about the manner in which this commission was set up and we recognized that it was largely for political purposes and a witch-hunt; obviously that failed because the Guyanese people turned
out and voted,” Williams said.
He also said that he was unsure whether Samaroo had already been paid. This too will come under consideration by Cabinet, he said.
Meanwhile, Williams said he is yet to address whether he will be continuing to represent the interest of the People’s National Congress (PNC) in the Walter Rodney CoI. He noted, however, that Attorney James Bond has been “in and out” of the Commission and is a possible fill-in. He said too, the continuation of the CoI will be up for consideration by the Cabinet.
“My proposal is that there should be one final sitting where submissions will be made,” he said. “I will probably have to prepare submissions and ask the new Attorney to present.”
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Samaroo had been contracted by the previous government for his coverage of the Commission. However, Samaroo later contended that the money was not for writing news reports but rather for the writing and eventual publication of a book on the findings of the inquiry.
Williams had also revealed that the yet to be concluded Commission had already cost $325M.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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