Dear Editor,
So Tacuma Ogunseye has decided to engage me and at the same time defend his colleague, Clive Thomas on the Globe Trust debacle. The first is understandable, the second poses some difficulty.
Mr Ogunseye is barking up the wrong tree. His accusations are misplaced. Recall the quotation I used: “The Directors of Globe Trust must be criticized for allowing this sorry episode in the institution’s history by its failure to act decisively in the face of lax, loose and grossly incompetent management.” Those were the Chief Justice’s words, not mine. Mr Ogunseye conveniently brushed this aside in order to formulate a political argument to justify an attack in my direction.
Further, he sought to heap responsibility for the Globe Trust fiasco on Kenneth King because of the “lengthy period” he served on the Globe Trust Board before Dr Thomas’s appointment.
Surely, Mr Ogunseye must be acquainted with the old adage, “The King is dead, long live the King!” and its applicability to Dr Thomas’s succession to the inheritance of Dr King’s role and responsibilities as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Globe Trust.
The question is, when Thomas realized the mess he inherited at Globe Trust did he go public and expose all those who were responsible for the mess?
What Mr Ogunseye is obviously not aware of is that the Globe Trust Board under Thomas’ chairmanship breached fiduciary trust by continuing to run a bankrupt institution contrary to the Financial Institutions Act. Stronger action could have been taken by the Bank of Guyana but it chose not to do so in the interest of the thousands of poor depositors. Mr Ogunseye should ask Thomas for the facts and not peddle inaccuracies.
In his capacity as Presidential Advisor on Sustainable Development, what advice has Dr Thomas offered to his principals at Office of the President in respect of the growing concern of the private sector about the economic downturn Guyana is currently experiencing?
These are the searching questions in these trying times that the working people want answered. One journalist asked, why is this matter being dug up now after so many years? My response was, “Those who forget the past are bound to repeat it.”
Yours faithfully,
Clement Rohee
General Secretary
People’s Progressive Party
