While I have refrained to use this column to speak about the work of Oceana in Belize – I find it necessary to make some clarifications because if the people would understand the big picture some of the misinformation being sent around would never stay alive.

Now it is time to kill it… and of course hopefully in the process the mischief-makers being paid to propagate the ignorance would feel some shame if they even have any such inkling in their being.

Malice

It appears more and more to me that the loud, obnoxious and petty mouthpiece of the ruling party is acting out of malice when they intentionally spew untruths like venom from the mouth of a snake.  What else could it be after I have gone at lengths to explain to them individually, personally and even on their own station?  I do not want to believe it is dumbness…since from the mood, wording and tone it stinks of malice.

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Justice of Belize Court of Appeals Denys Barrow taking oath of office.

Eminent jurist Denys Barrow, brother of current Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow has resigned from the Belize Court of Appeals according to a government release issued today. Mr. Barrow, a seasoned and highly respected attorney at law and senior counsel, was appointed to the Belize Court of Appeals by his brother Prime Minister Dean Barrow in 2009, after serving on the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeals. But his appointment to the highest court in Belize had raised eyebrows in the Belize judiciary and controversy in the media because of his family connection with the country’s Prime Minister.

In Belize, the Prime Minister has sole and absolute authority to appoint members of the Supreme Court and the Belize Court of Appeals. Subsequent to his appointment, Justice Barrow was criticised by members of the Belize Bar and in the local media for his participation in hearing cases involving the government and relatives of the Barrow administration.

In his letter of resignation dated January 24th, Justice Barrow claims that he has decided to return to private practice due to his financial situation. Mr. Barrow claims that the government of St. Lucia had declined to pay him retirement benefits stemming from his service on the Eastern Caribbean court of Appeals. [Read more...]

Honorable Edmund Castro, Deputy Minister of Works Belize.

Member of the Belize House of Representatives and Deputy Minister of Works Honorable Edmund Castro was today fired from his ministerial post according to news reports monitored in Belize. Minister Castro who represents the Belize Rural North Constituency was the first Belize Rastafarian to serve in a high-ranking position as a member of the ruling United Democratic Party government of Prime Minister Dean Barrow.

The Belize media report government sources as saying that Minister Castro was fired for allegedly engaging in “..conduct unbecoming a minister of government”. The airwaves in Belize are raging that the Castro affair has more than meets the eye. The Belize Government has so far refused to officially explain why Minister Castro was fired.

Minister Castro, also known as “Clear The Land Castro” enjoys widespread popularity as a maverick amongst grass-roots villagers in the Belize River Valley area. He is well-known for his no-nonsense approach to bringing development to his constituency that consists primarily of poor farmers and marginalised Belizeans. Castro has become the second U.D.P. minister to incur the wrath of the Prime Minister and joins attorney-at-law Cardona in the back benches. Cardona was fired from the Belize Cabinet earlier this year.

A terse press release today from the Prime Minister’s Office states “The decision was taken following a report made to the Prime Minister about an incident involving Castro. The Prime Minister was satisfied, after due consideration, that the report was substantially accurate, and that Honorable Castro had engaged in behavior inconsistent with the high standards of propriety to which the Prime Minister seeks to hold his ministers,” it said.

Belize is well known for Offshore Banking and Belize Vacations.

Note to Editors: This Breaking Belize News will be updated as more information becomes available.

The forced departure of the Chief Justice of Belize Dr. Abdulai Conteh has set off a modest tempest on the Belize judicial and populist landscape. A usually fragmented-on-political-lines Bar Association was sufficiently concerned to come together and condemn the manner in which the Chief Justice was being sent off. So much so that it issued an uncharacteristic admonition against the government of United Democratic Party leader prime minister Barrow.

One of the more colorful commentaries on the issue has come from former attorney general Godfrey Smith who participated in the selection process of the Dr, Conteh when Smith was in office:

Judicial balls.  That is his most important attribute.  Chief Justice Conteh fearlessly slaps down abusive government decisions, sometimes with Solomonic sensitivity to the damaged political egos.

They’re more important on a judge than erudition because errors can be corrected on appeal. But if a Chief Justice is afraid to rebuff governmental abuse, the Executive will emasculate the entire Judiciary.

It was upon the political “UDP headquarters case” that Dr. Conteh cut his judicial teeth. The freshly elected PUP Government alleged that the defeated UDP Government illegally gave to its party, gratis, land upon which it built its headquarters.

Though it was his first political case – a big one at that – he ruled against the government, ordering the UDP to pay the stamp duty on the land and incensing the PUP.

Though he was later reversed on appeal, he had established straightaway his credentials as a judge not afraid of the Executive.

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