Denbow: Bush lawyers advising Manning

Dr Claude Denbow, Senior Counsel for fired Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) chairman Hubert Alleyne, suggested yesterday that it had to be bush lawyers who advised Minister of Finance Patrick Manning that he (Manning) had the power to change the UTC Board. Denbow told Justice David Myers, “I do not think that any self respecting lawyer could arrogate such powers to him (Manning). Only a bush lawyer would give such advice and one deep in the bush, at that.” Denbow, who is challenging Alleyne’s dismissal as UTC chairman as arbitrary, has named Manning, Senator Conrad Enill, Minister in the Ministry of Finance, and the Attorney General as defendants. He said this was a case of an abuse of power where Manning, who is also Prime Minister, had arrogated powers to himself. Denbow warned the court that it would be a dangerous precedent if not corrected. He suggested that Manning acted on bad legal advice or no legal advice at all.

Denbow also claimed that when Enill accused Alleyne of not acting in the best interest of Government policy, the policy he had to be referring to was “bow to ministerial pressure and keep your mouth shut” as these are the two things Alleyne refused to do and was fired. He spoke out about a merger between the UTC and First Citizens Bank (FCB) and refused to adhere to a suggestion by the Finance Minister that Renrick Nickie be appointed executive director. Denbow, his junior attorney Kelvin Ramkisson and instructing attorney Donna Denbow, were also of the view that after consultation ended between the UTC’s Board, the Governor of the Central Bank and the Minister of Finance about Nickie’s appointment, the Minister began to subvert the validity of the Board by withdrawing its three directors.

This, Denbow said, was a  heinous act of a corporate malfeasance, which this court must not ignore. In order for the Board to have a quorum to transact its business and take decisions, a director representing the Minister of Finance or the Central Bank or the National Insurance Board, must be present. Denbow surmised that when Alleyne failed to bow to ministerial pressure, the concocted story of a loss of confidence in him was circulated. He told Justice David Myers that if the Government was allowed to get away with its arbitrary firing of Alleyne, it would undermine the rule of law in TT.

He said it would be a major setback to the UTC and caused its stakeholders to lose confidence in it. He said the UTC would become a flooded and sticky wicket. He argued that unlike other statutory bodies, the statutory provisions of the UTC have been insulated from political interference, and there was no provision for the Minister of Finance, Cabinet or the Governor of the Central Bank to fire the chairman. The chairman is appointed by the President to a fixed term of five years and cannot be removed unless for cause such as criminal matters etc.  He said since the inception of the UTC, governments have come and gone, and so too, chairmen of the UTC, but never did any Finance Minister, until now, seek to remove a chairman and control the UTC. With the exception of Alleyne, each  chairman was allowed to serve out his or her term of office.

Denbow recalled that four months after Alleyne was removed from office, he received a letter from the acting President revocating his appointment, but no reason given. Dr Lloyd Barnett QC, a Jamaican attorney representing the AG, started his submission yesterday afternoon, suggesting that the Minister of Finance did not breach the UTC statute, nor was any pressure brought on Alleyne. He noted that no other member of the Board complained about the practice of political domination or of being threatened. Dr Barnett, who is instructed by acting Chief State Solicitor Christopher Grant, Haran Ramkaransingh and Josefina Baptiste, will continue his submission today. Attorney Michael Quamina is representing Manning and Senator Enill.