GINA, Foreign Affairs Ministry received almost $10M for COI

Jun 03, 2015 News

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–  Journalist paid $16M mounts defence, further exposes self

By Abena Rockcliffe
Even as journalist Shaun Samaroo contradictorily sought to defend the fact that the previous government

paid him over $16M for his coverage of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the death of Dr. Walter Rodney, more information has been revealed about the wanton use of tax dollars for this project.
Information provided on a website gtmosquito.com indicated that the Government Information Agency (GINA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were collectively paid almost $10M for services provided to the Commission.
GINA billed the Commission for “advertising” and was paid just over $5.2M. As far as the public knows, GINA was never an advertising agency. In fact, GINA operates solely on state funds provided in the yearly budget.
The COI was also charged for the rental of cars from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For this, the Ministry was paid over $4.4M.
Yesterday, this newspaper published information provided by Attorney General, Basil Williams,   to the effect that the previous administration spent over $325M on the “witch-hunt” it disguised as a Commission of Inquiry.
Williams had told the media that of the expended $325M, $150M was utilized on salaries for the three commissioners, two lawyers and “a certain journalist.” Williams divulged that the journalist, later identified as Canada-based Shaun Samaroo, was paid US$7,300 per month.
The Attorney General said that Samaroo was handed US$80,300 ($16.8M) for his work, which the PPP obviously found to be quite exquisite.
Samaroo then responded around mid-morning to what he called “erroneous and misleading reports”. He said that “at no time and under no circumstance did the Government of Guyana contract my professional media services, or paid me, to report in the State media.”
However, in his response, the journalist stated that one of the terms of his contract with the government of Guyana was to “Write news reports, stories, features and multimedia scripts around daily happenings at the Commission.
Nevertheless, Samaroo said he contributed several articles to the Guyana Chronicle on the work of the Commission “pro bono…never once receiving any payment for that work…I also contributed dozens of columns to the Guyana Chronicle without compensation of any sort.
Listed below are the terms of contract as provided by Samaroo:
1. Design and build a global social media platform that generates ongoing professional coverage of the Rodney Commission, in multimedia format – print, video, audio, and electronic; this includes engaging discussions online;
2. Write news reports, stories, features and multimedia scripts around daily happenings at the Commission;
3. Coordinate national and international media organs in full local and global coverage of the Commission’s findings, and testimonies;
4. After the Commission would have completed its work, write and publish a book on the Commission’s work, on behalf of the Government of Guyana;
5. Write the script for, and produce, a Video Documentary on DVD, of the Commission’s work on behalf of the Government of Guyana, at the completion of the Commission’s work;
6. Create an online forum where the full findings, testimonies and reports of the Commission can be archived and available for global consumption;
7. Network with global organizations, academic institutions and relevant interests to popularize the findings of the Commission.
Initially, when Williams provided the information to Kaieteur News, he said, “They (the PPP) didn’t know the government would have changed,” as he inferred that the PPP thought the information would have never been revealed.
Williams told the media that this “useless” venture has already cost the state too much and the new government will therefore seek to ensure that the Commission wraps up its work soon.
“We are going to wind it down, we can’t afford it.”
Before the CoI is concluded, however, the various lawyers will be allowed to make submissions, after which the Commissioners must present their decision.
Williams said that there will be a sitting for submissions to be made, upon completion of which, the Commissioners would render their decision on the matter.
He said that the lawyers would most likely be given a three-week notice to prepare their final submissions.
Williams represented the interest of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) at the CoI. Because of his new position, Williams will have to withdraw. He will most likely be replaced by Attorney at Law James Bond.
On June 13, 1980, Dr. Walter Rodney, a scholar, social activist and founder of Working People’s Alliance (WPA) was killed when a device exploded in his car that was parked near the Camp Street Jail.
Following the incident, there was speculation that the event was set up by the then Prime Minister and Leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC), Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham.  As such, close relatives and associates of the late historian made numerous requests for a Commission of Inquiry into his death.
Decades after the event, on June 13, 2013, the Government of Guyana (GoG), under the Donald Ramotar Administration, announced that it had approved the establishment of the COI following a request from the Rodney Family.
Public notices on the matter outlined that the purpose of the COI is to receive testimony and evidence from interested parties to determine the circumstances immediately prior, at the time, and subsequent to the incident, in order to determine who or what was the cause of the explosion which resulted in the death of Dr. Rodney.
Among other things, the COI was set up to determine whether the cause of the explosion in which Dr. Rodney died, was an act of terrorism.
Ramotar had said that such an inquiry was necessary to allow Guyana to start the healing process after more than 30 years of uncertainty concerning Rodney’s death, and to avail his family closure.
The inquiry commenced April 2014, and was supposed to wrap up at the end of that year. The government, however, announced that it was extending the life of the Commission, indefinitely.

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