by Cajeton Hood

I am a firm believer in the proposition that the best and maybe the only way to truly know the true character of a person is to observe that person when he or she is under pressure.

You see, when things are going right we can all show a good face and be nice to everyone. When we have all 15 seats in the Lower House we can speak fluently year after year and promise anything but when we have a credible opposition we resort to our true nature, the REAL KEITH MITCHELL SHOWS UP.

Everyone likes me when I have 15 but now suddenly they hate me. No, they do not hate you they are simply saying that you are a failure in the job and should have the decency to correct that or leave the job. The true mettle of the individual will be revealed for all to see when the chips are down and the going gets tough.

Remember what our Prime Minister's actions and words were in the direct aftermath of Ivan? That is the true Keith Mitchell revealed! Look what he did when he did not get his way with the Taiwanese! He kicked them out and when they stated that they would no longer make illegal payments he was quick to say of and to them that they would be judged by what they said. He certainly did not heed his own advice.

The Prisons Act and the Prisons Rules It is now common knowledge that Keith Mitchell, purporting to act as Minister for National Security, signed a document on February 2nd in which he purported to revoke Sections 303 to 306 of the Prisons Rules. These are the sections in the Rules which deal with remission. Now remission in this context is the act whereby the sentence of a prisoner is reduced by a certain amount up to one-third on account of good conduct.

Hence the existence of remission is intended to be an incentive to prisoners to display good conduct. It is true that the Prisons Rules were made under the authority given to the Minister by Section 51 of the Prisons Act to. ".......make rules generally for the good management and governance of prisons and prisoners......." and specifically in the case of remission. Section 51 (2) (d) allows for, "the remission of sentences to be allowed to prisoners, including the conditions under which remissions are to be granted".

It follows that Parliament did not want the power to grant or withhold remission to be exercised in an arbitrary or capricious manner and so the Minister was invited to make rules. Why then, why at all? What is not common knowledge as yet is the fact that yours truly wrote to the Commissioner of Prisons alleging that three of the inmates were entitled according to existing law and practice to be released on February 3rd. The prisons authorities were invited to seek advice on the matter in order to prevent litigation and expense.

It appears to me now that the response of Keith Mitchell was to revoke the Rules which govern the orderly, structured and fair manner of granting remission. As one very eminent Caribbean Queens Counsel says, "the action was absurd, infantile, ridiculous and idiotic".

If indeed, as it seems to be, this action was taken as a result of the said letter of February 3rd, what then can we conclude about Keith Mitchell, our Prime Minister in light of all the prevailing circumstances? What really is being revealed to us about the character of OUR ULTIMATE LEADER (so to speak)? Hypocritical Grenadians, I learnt about this new development after Independence Day and I was not shocked because I have inside knowledge of the type of man that we are dealing with. But can you not recall the impassioned pleas for national unity and cooperation that were made by the same individual when addressing the nation during our Independence Day celebrations? Was it not the same individual who promised national consultation on issues, much more an issue as important as this? How can we take any promise of our Prime Minister seriously if he acts in this manner? This is an issue that affects many of our families directly and all of us indirectly because it involves a matter of National Security.

Remission is not unique to Grenada, the concept is present in all countries that I know of and is well regulated. Spiteful If the above is true, it leaves one to wonder at the nature of the vendetta that our Leader is waging against these three persons. As far as I am concerned, the State chose to have the three tried for murder and at the end of the trial they were found guilty of manslaughter.

Not only have they been awarded the maximum sentence for the act which is 15 years, but we have contended from a legal viewpoint that the court was wrong to give two consecutive terms and two maximum consecutive terms to boot. The matter is now before the Privy Council. Further, these three persons did not receive the usual benefit from the fact that they had no previous convictions and from the fact that they had been in prison for over two and a quarter years before their trial started. Now, in addition to this, our loving Leader who cares so much about people is still trying to spitefully keep them in jail longer and will leave no stone unturned in an attempt to have his will done.

Grenadians, let us remember that it could have been any one of our sons who were involved. Dictatorial At the time of the offence Andy Mitchell was only 19 years old and would have been in the Prime Minister's Imani Programme or in his Job Fair or in his much vaunted National Service Program. It is time for us to get rid of the venom, spite and hatred that we have for other Grenadians and the example must be set by our Leader! To me, one of the most disturbing thoughts is that Keith Mitchell would contemplate changing standards and practices that he met in office and were there for "donkey years" overnight with the stroke of a pen and no doubt with the advice of legal advisers that do not have a clue about our people and their values.

What did Mr. Wildman have to say about the act? Well the Prime Minister has the power so he just exercised the power and there is no issue because he changed it back right afterwards. What utter nonsense! There is a huge issue that will not go away and it is that the citizens of Grenada will not stand by and accept, in what is supposed to be a democracy, a man who will make a law overnight that affects their lives and even their safety without even announcing to us that it was going to be done far less to consult on it!

But that is okay with Wildman just as everything that Keith Mitchell does seems to be fine with him. I guess that he must sing for his supper. Or was it that it was Wildman who hatched the plot or gave Keith the answer to solve the perceived problem that was created? Heartless After all Wildman is the Legal Adviser to Cabinet, Legal Affairs, Police, etc. No Wildman, you cannot sweep it under the carpet by saying it is much ado about nothing! If you gave the advice as I think you did, it just shows that you are not so smart after all! You cannot just wish away the occurrence! Wildman, you may not understand it but the fact that the attempted repeal was itself repealed makes it even worse because it shows that we have an administration in place that cannot appreciate the gravity and sanctity of the office and power that it holds and is prepared to use that power in a reckless manner.

GRENADIANS BEWARE! I guess that Wizard was correct when he asked to show him the will that Keith had to say that he owns Grenada. Heartless: Yes, that was the first word that came to my mind when I heard of what was being done. Have a heart, Keith! The Court found that these persons were guilty to a limited extent and punished them, in my view, to more than the full extent of the Laws of Grenada. Now for some reason know only to him, Keith is now trying to punish them some more. Keith, you need to tell the nation what your fixation is with these three men! How can you as a Leader of our country act in such a clearly biased manner?

Our leader was prepared to change the laws of the game right at the end of the game just to get his way. It reminds me of a little kid who is playing marbles for fun and just because the game does not go his way he takes back all his marbles. Our leader understands cricket, and what he did is just like playing a limited overs game in which bowlers can bowl 10 overs each and after batting first, when he sees that he is losing the game, Keith changes the rule to make his best bowler bowl more than his allotted 10 overs. Unbalanced Keith, remember, what goes around comes around!

Even if we consider that what was done was rather horrible and despicable we must remember that these three are individuals with some remaining dignity, persons who have family and relatives and children too. The phrase "burning down a church to catch a mouse" seems to be very apt and applicable in this case. Imagine that our Leader was willing to risk the ire of all the prisoners in jail as well as their families just to have his way. Imagine that our so-called Minister of National Security was willing to risk a security crisis with disgruntled prisoners and endangered prison guards just to have his way. Just to spite three men Keith was willing to remove the incentive for prisoners to behave well in prison on the advice of one man! I believe that we need to send our Prime Minister for psychological evaluation because these are not the actions of a sane balanced individual.

Imagine Keith was willing to risk the ire of all international Human Rights bodies and the reputation of Grenada just to have his way. Disloyal and arbitrary Keith wants us to believe that our failure to pay the 5% will cause other countries not to give us any help but it is really actions such as he did with the Prisons Rules that will cause countries to withhold aid when they see that we have a government in place that is disloyal and arbitrary and that will not respect the dignity of the person nor encourage rehabilitation. Need I say anymore?

This is the true character of our Prime Minister and we must, as citizens of Grenada, decide whether this is the kind of person we want to lead us.

(Cajeton Hood is an attorney-at-law and former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister)

Opinions expressed are those of the Authors