The Ministry of Legal Affairs (MLA) has levelled a series of allegations, including engaging in subterfuge, against the former Permanent Secretary (PS) Indira Anandjit, who has rejected them all while expressing disappointment at what she calls its latest attempt to smear her.
While Anandjit had previously said that legal action was not on the front burner, she is reconsidering that position in light of the latest correspondence from the ministry, which has accused her of marginalizing staff.
In a letter to the editor, which was simply signed “MLA,” it was stated that during her tenure the former PS had “oppressed, marginalized and discriminated” against staff and that they waited only one day after her departure on annual leave to take “incriminating documents” to the Attorney General
The letter was in response to one penned by Anandjit, who said that the non-renewal of her contract came as a shock and that a smokescreen was created by the Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams to have her removed.
According to the MLA, the “incriminating documents” showed that Anandjit, the Chief Accounting Officer for the Ministry, approved payments of over $2.5 million for Commonwealth Law Reports and over $2 million in computer parts but “those purchases could not be found as having been received in any of the records of the Ministry.”
It said too that after not hearing from the Auditor General for many months, the Ministry received a report which it challenged under the provisions of the Audit Act. “The Report could be interpreted to mean that former President Ramoutar (sic) and former [Attorney General Anil] Nandlall conspired to spend taxpayers’ money in the custody of the Ministry to purchase the law books for Nandlall’s benefit,” it said.
The MLA said that when Williams took over the office, he “met staffers who greeted him with exultations of “we are free at last.”
It stated too that there were many reports of Anandjit “taking files and giving them to Nandlall; downloading information from the Ministry’s computers and giving them to him or his driver and suppressing documents and other information relevant to the new administration, yet the Minister never dismissed her.”
The ministry’s letter said that Anandjit wrote Minister of State Joseph Harmon and she indicated to him she did not want to return to the Ministry of Legal Affairs and would like to go anywhere else. “She never sought to return to the MLA and for good reason; she was afraid of being charged for a criminal offence,” it added.
According to MLA, Anandjit “must tell the nation whether she left the Ministry of Tourism, GECOM and the NCN under similar circumstances.”
Dangerous and libelous statements
However, Anandjit told Stabroek News that the contents of the statement are “dangerous” and an attack on her credibility.
“This is damning. If he came up with evidence that I have been discriminating (against) the people and marginalizing… he should produce it. They (statements) are just wild and baseless allegations,” she said.
“I am not shocked but disappointed that this is the route he (Williams) is going to take,” she said, when asked for a reaction to the contents of the Ministry’s letter.
She said that the language used in the MLA letter was very strong and gives the impression that she “was no good and up to mischief.”
“I am going to reject more than anything else his point about me giving out sensitive material to Nandlall. I was not responsible for legal documents; all legal matters are dealt with by the chambers. The notes and documents on computer have nothing to do with me,” she said.
Nandlall has said that the law books were bought for him by the Legal Affairs Ministry during his tenure, according to an agreement he had with the then government before taking up his position.
“If there is a secret arrangement what does that have to do with me? Why is he after me? I don’t know where all of this came from. I never had any problem with Williams from the time he took office,” Anandjit said.
According to the former PS, mention of her previous places of work was uncalled for. She clarified that she never worked at NCN but rather in the marketing department of the former Guyana Broadcasting Corporation.
“What does this have to do with the situation? All three were on contract. What the minister has done was to create an impression that I am problematic wherever I work and no one should hire me. That is far from the truth,” she said before informing that she is now reconsidering taking legal action.
“I do not and I am not upset that the contract was not renewed. I was disappointed at the manner in which it was dealt with; that it was not communicated to me first before it went public,” she said.
In her letter she had said that she first heard of the non-renewal of her contract through the press.
“If I did not want to work with the government, I would not have asked for a contract renewal. In addition, if I knew I had done something wrong, I would have never asked for a renewal,” she said, while noting that given the tenseness of the situation at the ministry she had asked Harmon, during a discussion, if there was anywhere else she could be placed but he did not respond. “He has already gotten rid of me. What else does he want? I am out of there. I am out of his hair,” she said.
