CATEGORY:POLITICS
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By Trevor Thwaites
Inside Grenada correspondent
Wednesday December 13,2006


ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada - The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called for a re-opening of the Commission of Inquiry into the alleged wrong doing of Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell during a European trip in 2000. The Prime Minister has been accused of collecting a bribe of US$500,000 from Eric Reisteiner, who was at the time an Honorary Diplomat. News of the bribe, which has generating plenty of debate, was first reported by Offshore Alert early in 2004.

However, Prime Minister Mitchell has denied collecting half a million US dollars. If fact he said the money was in the range of around US$15,000, which was for the expenses incurred on the trip, which he undertook in order to try and woo foreign investors to the country. On the insistence of the NDC, a Commission of Inquiry was set up last year by Governor General, Sir Daniel Williams, to look into the matter. After several testimonies, the Commission concluded that the Prime Minister was not guilty of any misdemeanor.

However, at an NDC Rally Sunday evening at the Grenville Car Park dubbed “The Anti Corruption Rally”, Opposition Leader, the Hon. Tillman Thomas, called for the re-opening of the inquiry. He said the United States Government has in its possession a video tape that has been submitted by Reisteiner, who is facing a lengthy prison term, after being found guilty for white-collar crimes. Thomas said that the video, which shows the Prime Minister receiving money from Reisteiner, is damning.

He called on the Foreign Affairs Ministry to access the video from the United States to be used as evidence. The opposition leader also quoted a part of a KYC News Release, which said that a request from judge Richard Cheltenham – the one man commission - to acquire the video for the hearing, had been rejected by the Foreign Affairs Ministry. But Tillman told the more than 500 party supporters, who braved the inclement whether, that the evidence is conclusive.

However, the debate rages as to the creditability of the “so-called” evidence. “Those guys are at it again…where was the video all the time? It is funny that it is only just surfaced”, are some of the responses to the NDC’s claims.
The word ‘corruption’ reverberated through the more than three-hour session as speaker after speaker accused the Keith Mitchell Administration of bad governance. “Nimrod should get the tape. The rule of law should prevail. It is becoming very frustrating”, the opposition leader said.

Thomas also touched on the oil issue, where it has been alleged that Energy Minister, the Hon Gregory Bowen, asked for a bribe in 1996 to allow an American Company - owned by Jack Grynberg - to explore for oil and natural gas in the territorial waters of Grenada. He said that the Prime Minister was very much involved in striking the deal and blames the entire cabinet for the present situation.

“If the contract is not renewed, Grynberg will get a substantial amount of money, which we cannot afford. We must demonstrate against corruption. I call on the churches, the NGO’s, the business fraternity and other stakeholders to tackle the corruption that is taking place. We have to stand up and defend Grenada. We have to reclaim our land,” stated the NDC leader.

The NDC is also concerned about the latest bulletin of Transparency International, which rates Grenada as one of the worst corrupt countries in the English speaking Caribbean. Grenada is rated at 64 along with Cuba and Belize.