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

Outspoken local attorney-at-law, Anslem Clouden says the time has come for Grenadians to turn up the heat on the ruling New National Party (NNP) government of Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell on the Hugh Wildman issue.
According to Clouden, this action is needed against the administration until a thorough investigation is conducted into the behaviour and conduct of newly appointed Legal Advisor to Cabinet, controversial Jamaican lawyer, Hugh Wildman.

He told GRENADA TODAY that he sees the need for the population on the island to wake up and start turning up the heat on NNP and Wildman for continuing to take Grenadians for a ride.

He was highly critical of a recent legal forum held at the Ministry of Finance by Attorney-General, Elvin Nimrod and Wildman himself aimed at formulating a professional conduct act.

According to Clouden, the move is clearly aimed at hitting back at lawyers for boycotting the February criminal assizes as part of protest action against the plan by the Mitchell government to install Wildman as Attorney-General. The Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLCS) turned down the appointment.

Clouden said he believes that the so-called forum aimed at drafting a professional conduct act for lawyers as a result of their success in ensuring that Wildman was not elected to the top local judicial post due to his "reprehensible conduct".

He charged that Wildman, Nimrod and P.M Mitchell' s Cabinet should be ashamed of themselves when the Jamaican attorney himself has such "thick dark clouds" hanging over his head with respect to his conduct as Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) a few years ago with his questionable dealings with First International Bank of Grenada (FIBG).

Clouden agreed that there was need for such act, adding that he and attorney-at-law, Reynold Benjamin as former Presidents of the local Bar a few years ago had approached former Attorney General, and current Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lawrence Joseph with a view to charting the way forward with such an act.

He said the NNP government never saw it fitting, necessary and worthwhile then to proceed on that path. In addition, he said the current President of the local bar, Ruggles Ferguson has always pledged to work closely and harmoniously with Government should they wish to formulate such protocol.

He pointed to similar protocols in existence in Canada and other countries but questioned the rush by the Mitchell government when they were the first to ignore such suggestions in recent times.

"I believe that every concerned citizen in and out of Grenada should wake up and turn up the heat on the NNP government .... because the Prime Minster himself is the subject of an investigation involving a large sum of US money, and Wildman in my view obstructed the FBI in their efforts to search and obtain First-bank's records", he said.

Clouden suggested that Wildman should not be paraded as someone cleared of any wrongdoing unless cleared by competent investigators in an impartial and independent inquiry into his conduct.

He spoke of the wider world is laughing at Grenada given the fact that the country's image and reputation has been blemished by certain persons at the top who are seen as criminals, fraudsters and corruptionists.
Clouden did not specifically name any of these people in leadership positions in the country.