Dear Editor,
Firstly, I wish to clearly state that no one is perfect. We all make mistakes; the PPP/C did when they were in power and the APNU+AFC will make mistakes from time to time. There is nothing wrong if any member of the public draws attention to any mistake. However, when persons try to misguide the public with observations that are full of half-truths, so as to have the public on their side, it is time to speak up.
The incident I am speaking about is the case that was decided against the government in November, 2015. This is a case which started while the PPP/C was in power, and the former Attorney General, Mr Nandlall has publicly acknowledged that he assigned a private practitioner to handle it. He is now criticizing the current Attorney General Basil Williams for being incompetent, because Mr Williams says he was not aware of the case or that a decision was given against the government.
If a private practitioner is appointed to act as the legal representative of the Government of Guyana that practitioner has a responsibility to keep his clients informed of the status of the case.
At this point I would expect that after the case was finished in the High Court that the practitioner had a professional duty to notify the Attorney General at the time of the decision that was given. The current Attorney General states he was not informed.
The second point is that the former Attorney General based on the impression he has given would have known of the decision. He should have personally notified the current Attorney General, but this seems not to have been done. Further, my understanding is that when an officer is leaving office he is duty bound to inform the new official of all the current matters that are at hand. One wonders if this was ever done. If it was, then it would be obvious that the new Attorney General would have been duly informed of all unfinished matters.
I now would ask Mr Nandlall to respond so that the public could become aware of the circumstances. Until this is done I would say that he has no right to publicly make statements about the current Attorney General and cast blame on him.
Yours faithfully,
Jonas M F Coddett
Attorney-at-law
