Saying they have been embarrassed and traumatised because of “false corruption allegations” made against them by an illegal operator, Guyana National Broadcasting Authority Board (GNBA) directors Vic Insanally and Anthony Vieira yesterday welcomed an independent probe promised by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
“We welcome it. We spoke to the PM last night and he explained to us that he will ask the president for an independent inquiry… I can put my head and everything on a block that we will be found not culpable, so we want it,” Insanally told Stabroek News yesterday.
Insanally said the Prime Minister prefers an independent investigator because it may appear partial for the GNBA Board to conduct investigations into allegations against its own members.
His position was echoed by Vieira, who added, “We asked for it and yes we want it.”
Their statements also came a day after their lawyers wrote Essequibo cable broadcaster Kenwin Charles, who has accused them of trying to influence him to sell his business, and called on him to retract the claim and publicly apologise to them. The letter says that if he fails to do so within seven days, legal proceedings would be instituted for damages for injury suffered to their good character.
The move by the Prime Minister for an independent investigation comes a week after Chairman of the GNBA Leonard Craig announced that the board would be investigating Charles’ allegations against Insanally and Vieira.
Craig, in a statement, had said Charles, of Northwest TV Inc, asked to meet with him to highlight several concerns. “At that meeting he made a complaint essentially accusing Mr. Anthony Vieira and Mr. Victor Insanally of trying to improperly force him out of doing business on the Essequibo Coast where he had made significant capital investments,” Craig had said.
He added that Charles also indicated that he had also met with the Prime Minister and a similar complaint was lodged. “I gave him every assurance that his matter will be given urgent consideration and that I will address this matter with the Board as soon as he makes a formal written complaint,” he added. However, Insanally and Vieira subsequently sent Craig a lawyer’s letter, warning him to desist from repeating “false” allegations made by Charles, while adding that they will be seeking damages for his publicising them. They also called on him to apologise.
In the letter to Charles, dated September 26, 2016, attorney C.V Satram is called to retract his statements and issue an apology to the duo or face civil proceedings for damages.
“We call upon you to retract the said statements and to publicly apologise to our clients. If you fail to do so within seven (7) days of the date of this letter, we have been instructed to institute legal proceedings against you to recover damages for the injury suffered to our clients’ good character,” the letter states.
Arguing that the statements were defamatory, the attorney also informs Charles of the allegations he made. “We are instructed that, as stated in a press release by Leonard Craig, you made a complaint essentially accusing Mr. Anthony Vieira and Mr. Victor Insanally of trying to improperly force you to sell your business on the Essequibo Coast where you made significant capital investments. It also appears that you have shared these complaints with the media intending them to be circulated in the public domain,” the letter charges.
“The said words published in their ordinary meaning are understood to mean that Mr. Vieira and Mr. Insanally are guilty of corrupt practices and criminal conduct and unfit to hold their respective offices. The aforesaid words, which were attributed to you, were designed to bring and did in fact bring the reputation of Mr. Vieira and Mr. Insanally into disrepute and exposed them to public ridicule and lowered them in the eyes of right thinking members of society generally,” it adds.
Insanally explained the decision to serve both Craig and Charles with lawyer’s letters. “Because of the great damage done, we are talking legal action against both Charles and Craig, because Craig is the one that named us,” he said.
“I have been around in the business for fifty something years. Tony has been around, his whole family is a well-established family.
I have built Guyenterprise and worked for governments and international corporations and we have never had any kind of thing like this, never had an accusation of any kind of corruption. It is really a terrible thing that has happened and maybe it just goes to show that when you take up a public appointment to help out, it (could hurt). We could not allow it. For someone we met, no more than thirty minutes in a meeting, to come up with a totally untrue accusation, to try to do this? I still can’t see the reason for this,” he added.
Vieira explained that the distress would not be as much for him as for his family and it is his children he is more concerned about. “It is my family I am concerned about.
My daughters are overseas and I don’t know how they would take an allegation like this against their father. They have not heard this and I don’t want them to… this would be more than upsetting,” he said.
