High Court Orders Dominica PM to stop using Jeep Wrangler he got as a “gift”

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DOMINICA NEWS ONLINE: The High Court in Dominica has ordered that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit stop the use of his Wrangler Jeep until a legal matter is settled. The court also ruled that its registration number be suspended.

The vehicle, costing EC$194, 000.00 which was a personal gift to Skerrit by ‘Moosa Navsa’ is being challenged by attorney Cara Shillingford-Marsh.

from left: Julien Prevost, Wayne Marsh, Wayne Norde and Cara Shillingford-Marsh/ DNO Photo

On June 12, 2023, High Court Judge, Justice Bernie Stephenson delivered a decision in which she granted leave to Shillingford-Marsh, who is also a member of the Integrity Commission in Dominica, to file a judicial review challenging a decision of the majority members of the Commission of February 12, 2021, to allow Skerrit to keep the gift.

The claim was brought by Shillingford-Marsh against Stephenson Hyacinth in his capacity as chairman of the Integrity Commission, and Thomas Holmes in his capacity as a member of the Integrity Commission, and the Integrity Commission.

Shillingford-Marsh is alleging that the Commission acted illegally, irrationally, and unreasonably when it allowed a person in public office, namely Prime Minister Skeritt, to keep the gift of the Jeep Wrangler without conducting an inquiry into the circumstances of the giving of the gift.

She argued that the Integrity Commission was required to do so under the Integrity in Public Office Act.

She further argued that the decision of the Commission was in breach of its international obligation, in that the Commission failed to give effect to Article 5 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and that the decision flies in the face of the provisions and in fact, amounts to the sanctioning of corruption.

Skerrit

She is asking that the gift be handed over to the financial secretary since the gift is property of the state and cannot be retained by the prime minister.

In the decision which came two years after the application was filed, the court granted leave to Mrs. Shillingford-Marsh to proceed with judicial review against the Integrity Commission but struck out the claim against Stephenson Hyacinth and Thomas Holmes.

Shillingford-Marsh has fourteen days from the date of the court’s decision to file her claim.

The integrity commission was represented by Lisa De Freitas and led by Senior Counsel Reginald Armour while Cara Shillingford-Marsh is being represented by her husband, attorney Wayne Benjamin Marsh.

Wayne Benjamin Marsh

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12 COMMENTS

  1. Leave the man alone! Soooooo much work to do and this is what y’all fighting over, a jeep!

  2. Caras Shillingford Marsh, you are a Champion. I need to find you so that I can adore you (not in the same way that I do Jesus Christ) you are a trend setter!!! You are a Nelson Mandela! More power to you and your husband!

    • Poetically Speaking: Politics is the circle solicited from the gift horses of the masses – that keeps on giving to the needs of temptation’s glee. It provides profit for protection of the optics for those too blind to see, and is addicted with absentia memories.

    • Baldwin “ASHE LIED” Spencer – who are his brotherS? u think KICKBACK make joke?

      Former Antigua –Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer Linked To UN Bribery Scandal involving Ex Amabassador JOHN ASHE.

      The UPP leadership including Baldwin Spencer had an obligation to ascertain from Dr John Ashe, the ultimate source of funding for the monies being donated .

  3. Greed is a terrible sin!!
    Another corrupt politician!
    Certain people think they’re untouchable smh.🤔

  4. Majoring in minor, my name is Nuffield Burnette, what’s yours? We bringing all them Vampires out of the shadows into the light! There will be no hiding place; minor or major!!!

  5. Where are all the Cara Shillingford Marshes? We need you more than ever, stand up and be counted! There is no powerful Politician, just indifferent, ignorant and scared people!!

  6. As a general rule, politicians should not, directly or indirectly, solicit or accept a gift from a prohibited source or given to them because of their official position. A prohibited source is any person, company, or organization that do business with the Government, or is seeking to do business with the government. This sort of behaviour has become so normal and regular and we have witnessed many politicians enriching themselves with expensive and lavish gifts from cronies without any sanction.

  7. Everything Audley Phillip said.. correct!. Today it’s just a 194k gift. Tomorrow, all our passports and lands will disappear for we do not know what is given in exchange for those ‘gifts’. Politics /corruption have destroyed too many nations. If there is the chance to get it right in our region, I applaud the lawyers who champion such causes.

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