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Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has announced that a cricket academy he started in his own constituency will benefit from a gift he accepted from the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, whom he visited in early October on a private trip.
On 7 October, a press release on the Prime Minister’s Facebook page announced that he was travelling to Rwanda for the Biashara Forum scheduled to take place from 9–11 October.
The Biashara Forum, also known as Biashara Afrika, is an annual business event organized by the African Continental Free Trade Area, aimed at promoting intra-African trade and fostering economic integration across the continent. The 2024 edition, held in Kigali, Rwanda, took place from October 9 to 11, 2024.
The forum, which means “business” in Swahili, serves as a platform for African public and private sector leaders, policymakers, and business representatives to engage in high-level discussions about economic development. It is not clear where Grenada fits into this picture.
Grenada exports nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and cocoa.
However, on 10 October, Press Secretary Neila Ettienne confirmed the Prime Minister had actually travelled to Nigeria. The two countries are about 1500 miles apart by air.
Several news items from various media houses in Nigeria later showed videos and carried news of Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell visiting the refinery and other company sites owned by Aliko Dangote.
In a news conference on 16 October, the Prime Minister said that he travelled to Nigeria from the United Kingdom with the complements of Aliko Dangote. Dangote is known to have 2 private jets.
Prime Minister Mitchell said that in discussions with Dangote, he told him about the academy which provides cricket lessons to primary school students in his constituency. At that point Dangote decided to gift 1,000 cricket kits to the cricket academy.
“In speaking to Mr Dangote and explaining what we are doing, he agreed and then and there called the owners of an Indian Premier League team, who incidentally owes a team in the CPL and a team in the Bangladesh League, and said I want 1,000 cricket kits for these kids. They are being manufactured, they will be delivered to Grenada,” the Grenadian Prime Minister said without disclosing where the kits are being manufactured and when the gift will arrive in Grenada.
By accepting the gift on his private trip, the Prime Minister as a public life official, according to the Public Life Act, is obliged to declare the gift to the Gift Registry of the Office of the Integrity Commission, for the relevant officer(s) to determine if the gift should be declared a property of the state or declared as a personal gift.
According to the Integrity Commission, the Gift Registry sets out the commission’s responsibilities in observing and upholding national, legal, and policy positions on bribery and corruption.
According to the Integrity Commission, the Gift Registry sets out the commission’s responsibilities in observing and upholding national, legal, and policy positions on bribery and corruption.
“The acceptance of gifts or gratification creates a conflict of interest between an employee’s private interests and their public duty.
The creation of a Gift Registry ensures that the integrity and responsibilities of persons in public life are not compromised or perceived to be compromised; in other words, it acts as a deterrent,” the commission posted on its website.
The circular on the website explains that the gift registry policy is “part of the Risk Management Regime with respect to changes in practices or procedures which may be necessary to reduce the occurrence of corrupt practices.”
PM Mitchell who was the guest on the morning programme of the Grenada Broadcasting Network, used the occasion to justify why as the Head of Government he must often travel.
“With all due respect to the Tourism Authority, I am the biggest seller of Grenada. When I go to Nigeria I am representing Grenada. Nigerians who never heard of Grenada would have heard about me, as the Prime Minister, they would have recognised that I would have met with the most influential person not just in Nigeria but in Africa, in the black world, and the attention that has brought to Grenada, is what you will see following therefrom,” he said.
Source: Grenada GIS.
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