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Pradoville – a case of power

Oct 18, 2015 Editorial, Features / Columnists

The issue of the two Pradoville Housing Schemes has got people talking. They have given rise to the question of how far can a Head of State go in the execution of the powers bestowed on him. It also brings into question the powers of the so-called Burnham constitution which many wanted repealed some years back.
The constitution clothed the President with powers that the opposition party of the day, the People’s Progressive Party, considered excessive. For example, one part of the constitution precluded the President from prosecution for any task he may undertake during his tenure.
The late Dr Cheddi Jagan saw this as allowing the President to get away with excesses. He then stated that he would modify the constitution to bring it into reality with the cause of Guyana. If necessary, he said while he remained in the opposition, he would repeal it.
More than two decades have passed; there have been six Presidents since the elections of October 5, 1992 but there have no attempts to repeal the constitution. There have been modifications, the most significant the term limits, but even this is being challenged in the courts. However, the immunity from prosecution remains.
But the immunity does not extend beyond anything legal. For example, a President cannot give an order for someone to be killed on the streets and claim immunity from prosecution. Indeed, we have heard former President Bharrat Jagdeo gloat over the killing of some criminals. There can be no doubt that he was glad at the way the forces killed Linden London in that hotel which was eventually razed. Gloating is one thing; giving the order is another.
And so we come to the Pradoville issue. The government of Guyana at the level of the Cabinet of Ministers, corralled some prime state lands and ordered these cold for the elite on the society. Chairing the Cabinet would have been Bharrat Jagdeo. As President did he do anything illegal when he corralled prime state lands and had them sold to a select few?
Was he acting within his purview? Does it fall within the remit of the President to dispose of state assets with the stroke of a pen? Back in 1992, when Desmond Hoyte lost the elections, he signed some vehicles over to some members of his staff. The new government moved to the courts to repossess those vehicles and found that the President had the authority to dispose of state assets while he remained President.
If that is the case then one may be hard pressed to fault Jagdeo for any action pertaining to the state lands. But for Hoyte there was no personal gain; for the Pradoville lands, Jagdeo was a personal beneficiary. He enjoyed the largest plot. Can he be cited for a corrupt transaction? Did he act corruptly?
There is evidence that he had acquired a plot of land at Ogle. He then constructed a home which he reportedly sold for a whopping US$600,000. The profit was astronomical. Similarly, property that he sold to his Cabinet Ministers for under two million dollars would have since been sold for more than ten times that value. Was Jagdeo spearheading a drive to exploit the nation?
These will be issues that anyone contemplating legal action would have to present in court and allow a judge to make a ruling. Attorney General Basil Williams is of the view that a civil action could be brought against Jagdeo for his role in the housing schemes. For certain, there could be action against the Ministers of Government who were in the Cabinet of Ministers when the decision was taken to disseminate the land and who actually became beneficiaries.
In fact, there is talk of criminal prosecution but this must be instituted by the Director of Public Prosecutions, who is also a beneficiary. This poses a problem which the courts must also resolve.
It goes without saying that interesting days are ahead of the intention is to prosecute anyone for those Pradoville lands.

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