Letter to the Sports Editor… Raphael responds to Drubahadur, maintains sports awards gifted be recalled

Jul 07, 2016 Sports

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Dear Sports Editor,
I wish to refer to Drubahadur’s letter recently published in the national newspapers and captioned “Mr. Claude Raphael Needs to Stop Peddling False information”. Drubahadur has not addressed the damning issues as they relate to the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) but instead sought to invoke character assassination and libelous personal attacks against me with a plethora of misrepresentations to divert attention from the real issues including the lack of accountability, transparency and democracy by the clique that has taken possession of the GCB. It is passing strange that Drubahadur could write so much on Claude Raphael and Guyana cricket when he, a virtual unknown, held no position on anyAssociation or County Board prior to being questionably catapulted into the position of President of the GCB in 2013.
The following are the facts:
1. As there has been no legally-constituted Demerara Cricket Board since 2009 and the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) did not attend any elections of the GCB from 2009, Drubahadur must tell the nation when, where and by what methodology did he become President and Sanasie CEO of the GCB. Drubahadur asserts that “Sanasie is the CEO of the GCB”. I checked the law and there is no CEO position in the GCB constitution.
2. With regard to the Guyana Cricket Administration Act (GCAA), Drubahadur stated “Despite its numerous flaws the GCB adheres to the GCAA as the law of the land”. He also stated “Our Audited financial statements have been submitted to the Chairman of the National Sports Commission, the Director of Sports, the Deeds Registry and the Minister of Sport (MoS)”. A careful check, as at 30th June, 2016, at the Deeds Registry has confirmed that no financial statements were submitted in the name of the GCB and none was ever submitted by the questionably-formed company “Cricket Guyana Inc”. Since the law has no such provision, the establishment of this private company (CGI) is illegal and a violation of the very law to which Drubahadur claims he adheres.
3. Drubahadur’s GCB continues to ostracize the Upper Demerara Cricket Association (including Linden) although it is a legal entity; this is a clear violation of the laws of Guyana. His clique campaigned relentlessly against the inclusion of Upper Demerara into the structure of Guyana cricket and this is the main ground used in their challenge to the GCAA.
4. It was Anand Sanasie, Drubahadur et al who filed the injunction (2014-HC-DEM-CIV-CM-106) to stop all elections under the very law so that the Drubahudar coterie could remain in power indefinitely. It must be made known that the elections of the GCB under the GCAA were due since January 2015. Since Drubahadur contends that the GCB is successful and my group is merely a handful of disgruntled persons, why is he so afraid to face the electorate in free and fair elections?
5. Drubahadur’s feeble attempt to justify the National Sports Award to Sanasie is a clear admission that he (Drubahadur) is not in charge of the GCB and appears to be clueless regarding the operations of a properly structured organization. While I have no problem generally with the National Sports Commission’s (NSC) system used for the conferring of awards, I believe the basic principle of legitimacy must first be satisfied before any other criterion is applied. In this regard both the GCB and Sanasie, for reasons already detailed, should have been excluded from consideration. The NSC appears to have been misled in the nomination process by Drubahadur and the GCB executives.
6. Drubahadur claims that the GCAA is flawed to the extent the he wants it scrapped thereby insinuating that those persons who drafted the Act at the Parliamentary Special Select Committee are ineffectual apprentices. Is he saying that Mr. Basil Williams, Dr. Rupert Roopnariane, Mr. Joseph Harmon, Mr. Christopher Jones, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, Dr. Frank Anthony, Mr. Anil Nandlall, Mr. Odinga Lumumba and Mr. Neil Kumar, after sitting at twenty-two (22) meetings, produced a flawed Bill which was passed into law unopposed in the National Assembly? These gentlemen who Drubahadur seeks to disparage are all currently and directly responsible for carrying our dear country forward. So Drubahadur’s silly and ridiculous contention that I was the architect of the Act is insulting to the intelligence of these noble gentlemen and by extension a profound disrespect and disregard for the National Assembly. As in all other Acts there are provisions in this one for amendments. Therefore the self-serving challenge to the GCAA is patently frivolous and deliberately designed to keep the GCB executives in office forever.
7. On the issue of Executive lawlessness, the Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) is portrayed by Drubahadur as the commercial arm of the GCB. I would like him to explain to the nation the following:
a). Who authorized the registration of this privately-owned company (number 6850)?
b). Who authorized the illegal transfer of all the assets of the GCB including the bank accounts to the CGI?
c). Why is the CGI not answerable to the membership of the GCB especially when it has sole control of a foreign exchange account which apparently had been approved through intended misrepresentation to the authorities? Why is it that, although a foreign account has been established, it is alleged that cricketers and officials are being paid in local currency at a reduced rate.
d). Why have the audited financial statements not been circulated to the membership of the GCB?
e). Who are the shareholders of the CGI?
f). How much dividends were received by the owners of this private company?
g). How much money has this company collected from the WICB and how was it spent?
8. As there are only three (3) areas (the Berbice Cricket Board, the East Coast Cricket Board and the Georgetown Cricket Association) that solely contribute to cricket development and the production of cricketers to the national teams, Drubahadur must explain why those very areas have not received any financial or other assistance from the GCB over the past seven (7) years when that Board receives US$640,000 annually from the WICB. Drubahadur should inform the public how in fact that money is spent especially as the GCB has no cricket development programmes or academies anywhere in Guyana.
9. Drubahadurstated that I attended a meeting with the WICB as a member of the PPP Government delegation. This is intentionally misleading. If he had checked with his ally
Sanasie who attended that meeting he would have known that I was there as a representative of one of thecricket factions. Also it was the WICB who overnight reneged on the agreed terms of the MOA and not the Government as asserted by Drubahadur. In associating the name of Claude Raphael with the PPP, It is evident that Drubahadur is attempting to mislead the nation, a ploy orchestrated to buy support from the current Administration.
10. With regard to my tenure on the WICB, I refer Drubahadur to the attached letter signed by Immediate Past President of the WICB, Dr. Julian Hunte.
11. On his questioning of my cricketing and administrative acumen, I hereby briefly outline my experience to Drubahadur:
Ministry ofWorks and Hydraulics – 1968-1974, Part-time lecturer, Government Technical
Institute (GTI) – 1969-1979, Mortgage Finance Bank (Deputy General Manager/ Corporate
Secretary/Chief Valuation Officer) – 1974-1998, Proprietor of Raphael’s Real Estate – 1998 to date. President of MalteenoesSports Club – 1983-2002. Introduced youth cricket into the club structure and initiated the first cricket academy in this part of the world in 1993. First President of the Georgetown Cricket Association, President of the Demerara Cricket Board, Vice-President of the GCB and Chairman of the Cricket Development Committee of the GCB, Chairman of the Senior Selection Committee of the GCB, Chairman of the GCB’s Security Committee, Women’s Cricket Committee, Reports Committee and Awards Committee.
Played cricket at Primary and Secondary School levels and captained the GTI Wight Cup team – 1966-1968. Played 1stDivision cricket for Malteenoes Sports Club and Guyana Sports Club – 1968-1974. Director of the WICB 2007-2009.
12. Drubahadur spuriously claims that I am involved in at least four court matters filed against the GCB and-or its officers. This is scandalous and I challenge him to identify those matters.
With regard to the above I maintain that the GCB executives are an illegal body and on this basis the awards granted to the GCB and Anand Sanasie must be revoked forthwith.Also, the Attorney General and the Minister of Sport, who are the defendants in the injunction brought by Anand Sanasie, Drubahadur et al stopping all elections, must urgently move towards having that injunction set aside. This will remove any “roadblocks” thereby paving the way for the long-overdue free and fair elections of the GCB which in turn will bring final resolution to the protracted cricket crisis. To continue with this administrative masquerade will only prolong the chaos and the grave injustice foisted on our beloved cricket.
IT IS TIME!
Claude Raphael

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