Dear Editor,
My statement of November 11th in relation to retention of the lawyers from Jamaica to prosecute the Mohameds was not an attack on regionalism or the right of CARICOM professionals to practice in Guyana. The Attorney General’s response is a fallacious misrepresentation of my core argument.
1. The Core Issue is Procurement, Not Patriotism – The Attorney General suggests my comments are “extraordinarily foolish and backward” and contrary’ to the spirit of CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). This is a distraction: I did not say that Jamaican or other CARICOM nationals should not practice in Guyana, nor did 1 object to the principles of CSME. I salute Guyanese professionals who hold high office across the region, including the Chief Justice of Belize and the judges the AG mentioned. My concern is not about nationality. The unanswered question remains: What was the exact procurement process used to retain counsel, and under what legal and justifiable basis was this specific hiring approved? This is the transparency the Guyanese public deserves, and this is the question the AG has avoided answering.
2. Available Local Capacity at No Extra Cost – The AG correctly notes that under international obligations, Guyana must bear the costs for legal representation in this extradition matter. However, this obligation does not necessitate hiring high-cost foreign counsel. The State already employs a corps of highly qualified, salaried lawyers in the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chambers who have successfully handled such cases for years. Utilizing these existing, highly capable, and experienced State lawyers would have come at zero additional cost to our nation’s coffers. Moreover I have no apologies of taking stand for our local bar, our lawyers here in Guyana. Our young, qualified Guyanese lawyers are struggling to find employment and gain essential experience, spending public funds to import lawyers for a matter that could be competently handled by the salaried DPP’s office is a slap in the face to our local Bar.