Dedan Sets To Clear His Name

    Under "Easter Stimulus Package" in the Review on Choiseul Village Council as reported in yesterday's post a section reads:

"...........In addition, according to documentation from Council all the funds were disbursed for works and

activities in connection with “Choiseul Beautification Programme” and the Supervisor for all

works under the Programme was Griffith Jn Baptiste. There was no evidence that Griffith Jn

Baptiste was a member or employee of Council. Investigations revealed that Griffith Jn Baptiste

was a member of the UWP Choiseul Constituency Group. Further, there is no evidence  that

Council sanctioned the works contracts that were issued to the various contractors under the

Programme neither did Chairperson of Council countersigned the payment request as required by

the Section 30 of the Local Authorities Ordinance, Chapter 239, Revised Laws of St. Lucia, 1957

(repealed).

Further still, the documentation revealed that one of the contractors under the Programme was

Dedan  Jn Baptiste. In fact the documentation revealed that works  for that contractor was

supervised and certified by Griffith Jn Baptiste and the said Contractor was paid an amount

$28,000.00. Investigations revealed that Contractor, Dedan Jn Baptiste and Supervisor, Griffith Jn

Baptiste was one and the same person (Griffith Dedan Christiani Jn Baptiste – N.I no. 122008)"

Dedan is furious about this and promises to go the full length to clear his name. Dedan has made his position quite clear. 

It appears that some deliberate misinformation and mischief have been the forte of the investigators as regards to the paragraph about Griffith Jn Baptiste/Dedan Jn Baptiste in their Review. So claims Dedan.
1. The investigators claim that there is no record of him being a Councilor at the Council during the month of April. A calculated lie. He had been a member of Council from  February 1, 2009 until December 2011 when the Governor general terminated  the services of all Councilors..
2: They claim that Griffith Jn Baptiste was the supervisor of the Easter Beautification Program: Another orchestrated lie. He,on no account, was ever offered a job to supervise the said program. As to where this information came from is a mystery to him.  dedan says, "Show me the records which states that, if they can. Did that info come from the Clerk or Chairperson?" 
3:  Dedan went on to say, "That I received a cheque for $28,000.00 as a contractor is true. However, I was instructed by the former Rep to cash the cheque and hand the amount over to him. Details of this I will withhold for now until, if necessary:"
4.  As to Griffith Jn Baptiste and Dedan Jn Baptiste being one and the same person is a fact. I have always known myself as Griffith Jn Baptiste. i have alwaays called myself Dedan since I noticed it as part of my name on my birth certificate. When the present administration upgraded their system in 1998 my name no longer appeared on my pay slip as Griffith Jn Baptiste but rather Dedan Christiani Griffith Jn Baptiste. Therefore my name could be read as Dedan C G Jn Baptise," Dedan stated emphatically, Dedan reiterated that to imply a fraudulent act on his part is again looking for a needle in a haystack.
    Jn Baptiste continued, "I am in no way surprised that the investigators, ably assisted by operatives of the Choiseul SLP Branch, I presume, would go at length to find something on me.
But like I've always said you can't find shit. Cause I know that I was never part of any illegal activity  or corruption during my one year stint as Secretary at the Constituency Office during  2007 - 2008.:
Stand by that. My family's name and mine I dared to protect at all times.

Filmed at 11.