Investigations into allegations of misconduct by Toshao Lenox Shuman, the elected village leader of St Cuthbert’s Mission, have cleared him of any wrongdoing.
This comes almost two months after Shuman, a re-migrant from Canada and Vice-Chairman of the National Toshaos Council (NTC) had stepped aside to enable an investigation into allegations against him by residents in St Cuthbert’s Mission.
Stabroek News has been reliably informed that the findings of the investigation yielded no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Toshao, and that he has since been reinstated as Toshao effective March 18.
Shuman, in an invited comment, told this publication that though he was not in possession of an official document, he was informed of the findings last Saturday by Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock during a village celebration.
“Everything has been cleared as it relates to the allegations; all the records in the community are in order and all finances have been accounted for,” the Toshao said.
But while Shuman was confident that he would be cleared of the allegations, he is disappointed that his conduct as Toshao and that of the village council was called into question.
“I am both happy and sad regarding the investigation and the findings; while I am happy that I was cleared, I’m disappointed with the fact that it all came to this,” he noted.
Shuman said while he must commend the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs for what he said was an objective investigation, he believes that there are questionable political forces lingering on the sidelines.
“I have profound respect for Minister Allicock both as a person and the position he holds, however the external political forces that surround him are very questionable,” the Toshao said.
On a different note however, Shuman believes that the report failed to capture the true state of the village economy as no mention was made of the personal funds he would have expended to keep the village afloat.
“For almost two years I would have gone into my own personal funds to keep the community afloat… Those monies would have gone to getting the village vehicle up and running and also ensuring the village generator was in operation, but none of the was reflected in the report,” Shuman said.
Nonetheless, the Toshao believes that being vindicated offers not only him but the village council an opportunity to focus on meaningful reform in the community.
The investigation followed a petition signed by at least 125 residents of St Cuthbert’s Mission, which was received by the minister on January 12, 2017.
Shuman, in a previous interview with Stabroek News, said he believed the attempts to impeach him were tactics meant to undermine his work and that of the village council, which took office in July 2015.
Based on documents seen by this newspaper, it would seem that the first petition was drafted following an interaction between the village council and several members of a religious group in the community. A second came on the heels of the village council’s efforts to address the issue of $2.6 million that were not accounted for under the last council.
