[UPDATED] Duke cries 'PNM mischief' as court orders PSA audit

JADA LOUTOO and STEPHON NICHOLAS

Public Services Association (PSA) president Watson Duke has accused "PNM mischief makers" within his trade union of trying to disrupt the organisation in an attempt to undermine him ahead of the 2020 general elections.

Duke's comments came after a High Court judge on Friday ordered the PSA executive to commission an audit of the union’s finances by month-end. Justice Devindra Rampersad granted the order to a group of PSA members who have referred to themselves as concerned public officers.

The concerned public officers filed the claim in January complaining that proper procedures were not being followed by the Duke-led executive for the approval of expenditure and conduct of the union’s affairs.

They complained that section elections were not being held, there was no financial accountability at the PSA, and several irregularities relating to the membership list and the holding of elections which went against the union’s constitution.

Duke and the executive were also accused of removing various sections for the register of attendance at the general council level, and the blocking of elections from taking place for the various sections of the union.

In their lawsuit, the concerned public officers also complained of a failure to hold monthly general council meetings, a failure of the finance committee to meet and no provisions of an audited financial report.

They say there has been no budget of the PSA presented for the last eight years, yet spending continues unabated with the approval for trips, reimbursement of interest paid on the purchase of personal vehicles by executive officers, the buy-out of unused vacation leave for executive members, purchase of airtime on the radio, donations to other unions and the undertaking of construction work at the PSA building.

Duke: 'My hands are clean'

Speaking to Newsday on Sunday in a telephone interview, Duke said he had nothing to hide and claimed it was all a plot hatched by a "low-life" PSA member and his relative who is a high-ranking PNM official.

"They're going to pull the PSA before the court, every single thing until election time come, so somehow that could weaken Watson Duke. They are trying to weaken the PSA so the PNM will gain a foothold and look strong. It doesn't worry me one bit because my hands are clean, the books are there, look and see what they want to see. It doesn't bother me."

Describing the judge's decision as a "consent order," Duke said the PSA has been ready and willing to audit its accounts and the lack of auditing since 2014 was not its fault.

"The books are there. The reason it's all at once (now), there was a time the Ministry of Labour failed to send any single auditor. They didn't send any," he said.

Asked whether PSA's spending under his tenure was within the realm of what was permissible, Duke was adamant, "All the spending in the PSA is above board."

Reiterating that it was all a PNM scheme against him and his Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) political party, Duke said he has only been exercising powers that previous PSA presidents wielded.

"Spending can only be authorised by the general council or by the president, one out of the two. You can't have powers and not have powers at the same time. If you have certain powers under the constitution, you have those powers under the constitution. People somehow allowed (former PSA president and current Minister of Labour) Jennifer Baptiste to use all the powers, do what she wants because she is a PNM, but when Watson Duke is using the laws to advance the thing, these low-life members who have PNM names... This is a PNM attempt to take over the PSA."

He said he expects more plots against him before elections are held.

"They will come with every single thing conceivable. They will send men behind me, they will send women behind me, they will send police behind me, send dogs behind me. They will try to send obeah people behind me."

Details of the order relating to the audit are expected to be finalised and the judge is expected to deliver his written decision in the matter sometime early this week.

He also ordered the annual conference of the PSA be held as required by the union’s constitution and that the proper procedure for spending be adhered to, meaning that all expenditure must be approved by the general council. The PSA’s conference of delegates, according to the constitution, must approve the budget before it goes to the general council. It also oversees the month-to-month spending or “extra-ordinary” spending of the union.

Section elections to be held by month end

As part of his order, Rampersad also instructed that all section elections be held by the end of the month and after the audit is completed, a proper membership list is to be generated which will determine the actual number of financial members of the PSA.

In 2017, a group of PSA members filed a lawsuit challenging irregularities in the voters' list and another was filed this year against a decision by the elections committee to postpone elections to November 23, this year.

In the 2017 lawsuit, the group contended that the list of voters was fundamentally flawed due to a decision to allow PSA members with union dues arrears to be allowed to vote.

In that matter, Justice Nadia Kangaloo ordered the committee to sanitise the list and set a new date for elections. The second court action was a contempt of court application in which that group of PSA members claimed that the elections committed breached the court’s order by scraping the original voters’ list and setting November 23 for national elections. The list has never been published.

They argued that the decision gave Duke almost a full third term in office without being elected by the union’s membership. Last September, Duke announced a decision to step down as PSA president by November 30, 2019, a position he has held for a decade to focus on his political career as the leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots.

He is also minority leader in the Tobago House of Assembly. In mid-November, Duke, at a press conference at the PSA’s head offices on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, revealed he will not yet relinquish his post, adding that he was still the legitimate president and when elections are called it will be up to the membership to choose their leader.
(With reporting by Stephon Nicholas)

This story was originally published with the title "Judge orders audit for PSA finances" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

A HIGH COURT judge has ordered the executive of the Public Services Association (PSA), and its president Watson Duke, to commission an audit of the union’s finances by month-end.

Justice Devindra Rampersad granted the order on Friday to a group of PSA members who have referred to themselves as concerned public officers.

Details of the order relating to the audit are expected to be finalised and the judge is expected to deliver his written decision in the matter sometime early this week.

However, on Friday, he approved the request for the audit of the union’s finances which is expected to be completed in 30 days.

He also ordered the annual conference of the PSA be held as required by the union’s constitution and that the proper procedure for spending be adhered to, meaning that all expenditure must be approved by the general council. The PSA’s conference of delegates, according to the constitution, must approve the budget before its goes to the general council. It also oversees the month-to-month spending or “extra-ordinary” spending of the union.

As part of his order, Rampersad also instructed that all section elections be held by the end of the month and after the audit is completed, a proper membership list is to be generated which will determine the actual number of financial members of the PSA.

The concerned public officers filed the claim in January complaining that proper procedures were not being followed by the Duke-led executive for the approval of expenditure and conduct of the union’s affairs.

They complained that section elections were not being held, there was no financial accountability at the PSA, and several irregularities relating to the membership list and the holding of elections which went against the union’s constitution.

Duke and the executive were also accused of removing various sections for the register of attendance at the general council level, and the blocking of elections from taking place for the various sections of the union.

In their lawsuit, the concerned public officers also complained of a failure to hold monthly general council meetings, a failure of the finance committee to meet and no provisions of an audited financial report.

They say there has been no budget of the PSA presented for the last eight years, yet spending continues unabated with the approval for trips, reimbursement of interest paid on the purchase of personal vehicles by executive officers, the buy-out of unused vacation leave for executive members, purchase of airtime on the radio, donations to other unions and the undertaking of construction work at the PSA building.

In 2017, a group of PSA members filed a lawsuit challenging irregularities in the voters' list and another was filed this year against a decision by the elections committee to postpone elections to November 23, this year.

In the 2017 lawsuit, the group contended that the list of voters was fundamentally flawed due to a decision to allow PSA members with union dues arrears to be allowed to vote.

In that matter, Justice Nadia Kangaloo ordered the committee to sanitise the list and set a new date for elections. The second court action was a contempt of court application in which that group of PSA members claimed that the elections committed breached the court’s order by scraping the original voters’ list and setting November 23 for national elections. The list has never been published.

They argued that the decision gave Duke almost a full third term in office without being elected by the union’s membership. Last September, Duke announced a decision to step down as PSA president by November 30, 2019, a position he has held for a decade to focus on his political career as the leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots.

He is also minority leader in the Tobago House of Assembly. In mid-November, Duke, at a press conference at the PSA’s head offices on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, revealed he will not yet relinquish his post, adding that he was still the legitimate president and when elections are called it will be up to the membership to choose their leader.