The Minister of Government accused of raping and sodomizing an underage girl, cleared by Director of Public Prosecution, has resigned from cabinet and as a Member of Parliament.
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐫 𝐈𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐢 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐃𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫:
Fellow Guyanese, as you’re aware, I am in Trinidad and Tobago attending the 45th session of the Heads of Government meeting of CARICOM and the 50th anniversary of CARICOM.
Tonight I want to address you in relation to the allegation that was made against Minister Nigel Dharamlall.
From the inception, I advised the population that I would allow the system to work. I would never and the government would never intervene in the system. We’ve allowed an independent investigation; the minister proceeded on leave to ensure that an independent investigation was conducted.
The Police did their investigation and also all the other agencies, including the DPP.
This evening, you’ve seen the statement from the DPP in which she has advised that she will not proceed on any charges against the minister based on all that is before her.
However, Minister Dharamall has advised that he will tender his resignation as the interest of the government is important to him and he will not want anyone to bring the government into disrepute.
He has also advised that these allegations have affected him personally and as such, he has offered to resign as minister and as a Member of Parliament.
I’ve, therefore, accepted his resignation as a Cabinet Member and a Member of Parliament.
Nigel Dharamlall has committed to me that he will continue to support and be a member of the People’s Progressive Party and also be supportive of the government.
So, as I said before, we have allowed the system to work. We have not intervened; from day one, we said we must trust the system.
Now that we have received the advice of the DPP, the Minister has asked to resign as Member of Cabinet and Member of Parliament and I’ve accepted that resignation.
Thank you.
