Under pressure to clear his name, Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy yesterday distanced himself from the allegations raised in a US court about his connections to drug trafficker Roger Khan calling the claims “absurd” and charging that the witness was trying to frame him.
The minister brushed off questions from the media earlier in the day while at a press conference saying he was upset at the stories in the local press.
“Of course I am concerned. I am concerned when people say nonsense… Maybe you guys need to follow the real story, goddamn it! Y’all go and talk about the people who burn down the Ministry of Health. You talking about me!” Ramsammy blurted out when questioned.
But President Bharrat Jagdeo later disclosed at a press conference that he had asked Ramsammy to issue a statement because the issue needed addressing.
“I spoke with Minister Ramsammy and I asked him ‘were you connected on all of these issues that have been raised? Were you part of this, any part of this? He said to me he was not,’” Jagdeo told reporters yesterday at the Office of the President.
Speaking prior to the release of his statement, Ramsammy told reporters who mobbed him after an event at the Pegasus Hotel that his portfolio had always been Minister of Health “and that’s all”. He said security was not his mandate and that he never played a role in any security related issue.
Visibly agitated, he declared that the US authorities have had access to him forever and that they have access to him now, and that he has no need for an attorney.
“I don’t need legal assistance. The people out there will judge for themselves… I am clearing my goddamned name. I don’t need a lawyer to defend my name,” Ramsammy declared.
The witness for the US government Selwyn Vaughn has alleged that after talk show host Ronald Waddell was gunned down in Subryanville by the phantom squad, Roger Khan had placed a call to Ramsammy.
In the statement he released later, the Health Minister said he had noted the media reports on legal proceedings in the USA, in which false allegations were made against him by a witness. He declared that the allegations are a grave attack on his character and that they also place his life and the lives of family members at great risk.
“I note the frenzy with which certain sections of the media have sensationalized the story and present the allegations as facts. Should anything happen to me and my family, these media houses would be culpable for the consequences,” he declared.
“I first read of the death of Mr Waddell in the newspapers. I never was informed by anyone either at the hospital or outside of the hospital about the fact that Mr Waddell was shot and was at the hospital. Indeed, I was indisposed and busy making arrangements for the funeral of my father at the time. At no time have I provided guidance to doctors about how to treat any person. I have never instructed any doctor on how to deal with any patient at any time, from the first day of my appointment as Minister of Health to now. No doctor or health care provider can ever say that I have ever instructed him or her on how to deal with any patient,” the minister wrote. The latter remark was in relation to alleged advice passed on by Khan to Ramsammy and which was carried in some media reports.
He said the allegation that Khan spoke to him that night was pure fiction. Ramsammy said he was not in a position to say what happened that night in Georgetown [when Waddell was killed], adding that he was not in contact with any person linked to the death. He pointed out that he is unsure as to whether someone might have tried to call him.
As regards US informant Vaughn, the minister said he did not know him.
“I never discussed with anyone anything related to Mr Khan, then or now. During that period many persons would meet me, as they did with any prominent Guyanese, but I only meet persons at my office who want to discuss matter(s) related to my ministry. I never met with Mr Khan and Mr Vaughn, the named witness at my ministry or in Bel Air Park, nor did they get any assistance from me on behalf of my government, as alleged or at all,” he said.
Ramsammy added that the government appointed him as the Minister of Health and the PPP/C appointed him as a Member of Parliament, noting that while he was always concerned about the well-being and safety of all citizens, security matters were not within his remit, then or now.
“These stories emanating from the USA court are absurd, malicious and mischievous and are being sensationalized at my expense. I am not on trial. I can only say that the so-called witness is trying to frame me and to make me a target for sinister reasons. His allegations are harmful, not only to my character as an honest, law-abiding citizen and a very hard worker, but also place me at great risk,” Ramsammy said.
The minister added that he would continue to do his work with the same energy and high level of competence that he is known for, adding that he will serve his country and his sisters and brothers to the best of his ability.
