Grenada Today - The National Newspaper of Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique

Hon. Tillman Thomas - Leader of the Opposition Opposition Leader Tillman Thomas has accused the Commission of Inquiry looking into alleged financial wrong-doings involving Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell of attempting to blame public servants for the wrongs of the ruling New National Party (NNP) administration.

Thomas was speaking to reporters last Friday at the conclusion of one week of oral hearing conducted by sole Commissioner, Barbadian jurist Richard Cheltenham at the Grenada Trade Center in the south of the island.

The Inquiry was ordered by Governor General Sir. Daniel Williams to look into allegations made in the Miami-based Offshore Alert newsletter that Dr. Mitchell received half a million U.S dollars to appoint fraudster, Eric Resteiner as Trade Councillor.

In commenting on the evidence given by the witnesses, the Opposition Leader pointed out that it was clear a foundation was laid for deception by those who went to Europe with the Prime Minister. He pointed to a lack of oral submissions to Cabinet about the trip as well as inconsistencies in some of the statements given especially by the two police officers who accompanied the Prime Minister overseas.

According to Thomas, the political leader of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Mitchell told the nation in an address after the story broke that he paid the expenses for himself and the two police offices who had travelled with him abroad.

But Thomas referred to the evidence presented before the commission about cheques in the possession of the Ministry of Finance written in the names of the police officers, with one of them cashing it at a local commercial bank.

The Prime Minister had told the nation that he had used his credit card to pay for the trip. He also said that there was an understanding that Resteiner would re-imburse him for the trip.

Thomas believes the inconsistencies in the evidence by some of the witnesses before the commission clearly warrant participation by the opposition in the inquiry. "We will get a lot more information on how Diplomats are hired. We believe more questions could have been asked about that," he remarked.

Attorney-at-Law, Ruggles Ferguson had made application for the opposition to participate in the hearing with the right to examine and cross examine witnesses.
However, Commissioner Cheltenham ruled against the submission on the grounds that the opposition is not the subject of the Inquiry and so was in no way affected.

The Opposition Leader charged that the intention of the Cheltenham Inquiry is to blame the system used to hire Diplomats and Trade Counsellors. "There is nothing wrong with the system since there were governments in the past who were in office and that (kind of wrongdoing) never happened under their tenure", he said.

"Why this is happening is because of the leadership of the NNP, not the system. I believe the public officers who appear before the Commission lack the courage to speak the truth", he added. Thomas pointed out that the truth of the matter is that public servants are not the ones responsible for hiring Diplomats or Trade Counselors but government ministers themselves.

During the inquiry, then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nordica Mc Intyre told the commission that Resteiner's name was brought to her for the diplomatic appointment by head of the Grenada International Financial Services Authority (GIFSA), Michael Creft.

The commission also heard evidence that Creft was the one who helped to arrange the controversial Resteiner/Mitchell meeting in Switzerland in which the Prime Minister admitted receiving "approximately $15, 000.00 U.S" and not $500, 000.00 U.S.