GRENADA REPLACES CONTROVERSIAL AG IN CABINET SHUFFLE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRIDGETOWN 000507

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL XL
SUBJECT: GRENADA REPLACES CONTROVERSIAL AG IN CABINET SHUFFLE

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) Grenada's year-old Government announced a cabinet
reshuffle on 31 July, the centerpiece of which was the formal
sacking of a controversial Attorney General. The reshuffle also
resulted in the creation of two new ministries and the division of
several others. According to the Senior Advisor to the Prime
Minister, these changes were put into place to "provide for better
management" and "to allow ministers to make more effective
contributions" to the GOG. By local accounts, this move was a
positive one, showing both maturity by the senior leadership in
removing the problematic AG, and a fulfillment of the government's
promise to run a clean ship. Bios for all new ministers at end of
cable. End summary.

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AG Scandal Leads to Changes
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2. (SBU) The centerpiece of the government's cabinet shuffle
announced 31 July was the removal of much-maligned AG Jimmy Bristol
at the express request of Prime Minister Tillman Thomas. Bristol
shamelessly abused his position in an attempt to influence the
outcome of his stepson's criminal trial in the U.S. According to
the GOG Press Secretary, Bristol wrote to a U.S. judge in November
2008 on official GOG letterhead, seeking leniency for his stepson,
Emmanuel Ganpot, who had been a fugitive in the U.S. for six years.
Ganpot is scheduled to be sentenced in late August 2009 on
drug-related charges. The new AG is Rohan Phillip, a 38 year old
former Solicitor General. Phillip confirmed during our conversation
on 21 August that he has been appointed for a three-month period,
but that this appointment could, and probably would, be extended.

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The Foreign Affairs - Tourism Division
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3. (SBU) Aside from the AG sacking, the most significant move was
the division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of
Tourism, formerly one ministry. The split was spurred by growing
discontent among major stakeholders, such as the Hotel Association,
that FONMIN Peter David was ignoring the tourism portfolio and
focusing a bit too heavily on off-island jaunts [Note: mostly to
Cuba. End note.] To ameliorate this problem, the GOG created a
new, independent Ministry of Tourism and appointed Glynis Roberts,
former Minister for Social Development, Labor and Ecclesiastical
Affairs, to the post. Peter David retained the foreign affairs
portfolio. Roberts previously held the position of Grenadian
representative to the EU, a connection some believe will assist her
in increasing tourism from Europe.

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Other Appointments
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4. (SBU) Senator Ann Peters, a former nurse and hospital
administrator who also served as spokesperson for Grenada's medical
practitioners for many years, is now the Minister for Health,
replacing Karl Hood, who was moved to Minister for Social
Development, Labor and Ecclesiastical Affairs - a posting more in
keeping with his background as a high-ranking minister in the
Pentecostal church. In addition, the ministry was re-christened as
the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Ecclesiastical Affairs,
with the Social Development portfolio moving to its own separate
ministry.


5. (SBU) In another, probably less beneficial, move, the Ministry
of the Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development replaces
the former Ministry of the Environment. This new ministry is led by
Michael Church, the former Junior Minister for Finance and Foreign
Trade. Prior to 31 July there was one consolidated Ministry for
Finance, Planning Economy, Energy, and Foreign Trade and
Cooperatives, with various junior ministers running the individual
portfolios. The PM's advisor tells us that it was done in order to
leave the former Junior Minister for the Environment, Sylvester
Quarless, free to focus on Social Development in his new role as
Minister for Social Development, but the move relegates
environmental issues to what appears to be a fairly bloated
ministry.


6. (SBU) The leadership of the Ministries of Finance and Education
- widely considered to be the most successful and well-functioning
of the group - remains unchanged. Franka Bernardine remains the
Education Minister and is best known to date for the Ministry of
Education's fulfillment of an election promise to provide free
school books to all students, which they did within four months of
taking office. Bernardine is also the former director of the U.S.
Peace Corps office in Grenada, at which time she had appealed on
several occasions to the Ministry of Education to set up a desk
focusing solely on Special Ed, but was ignored. Immediately upon

BRIDGETOWN 00000507 002 OF 002


becoming Education Minister she created this dedicated desk, run by
a Coordinator for Special Ed. Finance Minister and Deputy Party
Leader Nazim Burke also retained his position. The highlight of his
tenure thus far is the popular "tax amnesty" which brought in
significant, much-needed revenue.

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COMMENT
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7. (SBU) The recent changes in the GOG led local observers to note
that after a year in office, the NDC government seems to finally be
settling down and getting their act together to run the country. It
is a general belief that this reshuffle is a positive change. The
majority of the public supported the PM's decision to sack Bristol,
viewing this move as proof of his promise to run a more transparent
government.

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BIODATA FOR NEW MINISTERS
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8. (SBU) Biodata follows:

--Rohan Phillip, Attorney General: Phillip was born on the tiny
island of Carriacou and received his LL.B (Hons) in 1996. He was
admitted to the Grenada Bar in 1998 and worked as Crown Counsel in
the AG's Chambers until 2000. He then moved to Belize where he
served as Crown Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecution, then
in the Solicitor General's office. In 2003 Phillip returned to
Grenada as Crown Counsel for the firm Henry, Hudson-Phillips &
Company. From 2005 to 2007 he was a Legal Officer at the OECS,
working closely with the Economic Union Task Force, OECS Family Law
& Domestic Violence Reform Project and ECTEL Board of Directors. He
went into private practice in 2007, until he was appointed Solicitor
General in October 2008. He was named Attorney General on 28 July

2009.
--Senator Ann Peters, Minister for Health: Peters served two terms
in the Senate after being appointed by the former NDC Government of
PM Sir Nicholas Brathwaite. She is a trained nurse and former
President of the Grenada Nurses Association. She is also the wife
of popular Grenadian playwright, Francis Urias Peters, and is
herself an icon in the performing arts. She is a singer and dancer
and served as choreographer for the National Performing Arts Company
of Grenada from 1979 to 1983.

--Michael Church, Minister for the Environment, Foreign Trade and
Export Development: Church is an educator and development
consultant who attended the Grenada Teachers' College, the
University of Havana, the University of Camaguey, North Carolina
State College and the University of Manitoba. His studies focused
on education and agricultural economics. He has worked as Chief
Technical Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and as a lecturer
at the T.A. Marryshow Community College in Grenada.

-- Sylvester Quarless, Minister for Social Development: Quarless is
a successful businessman who studied at the University of the West
Indies and also in Germany. He majored in journalism, public
relations and public administration. He then worked as Information
Officer for the Government of Grenada for 28 years.

End of biodata.

GOGGIN