IN the next few weeks the PNP is going to be rocked by a scandal so embarrassing and possibly so disastrous to its chances of winning the next elections that were I the one giving the PNP advice, I would say to it, cut your losses now and get rid of the encumbrance.

This column has information on a senior man inside the PNP who has been known over the years to have certain kleptomaniac failings. In fact, some years ago I wrote a column criticising him on a certain matter in which he had involved himself. A few weeks after I wrote the column, I found myself at the bar at Marketplace where I became briefly involved in conversation with NDM secretary, Brascoe Lee, and PNP finance minister, Omar Davies.

The conversation with Minister Davies was an extremely truncated one and it was mostly on trivia. After the minister left I was introduced to a young man whose name indicated to me that he was a son of the very man that this article is all about.

At an early stage of the conversation the young man said to me, “You owe my father an apology for writing that unfair article about him. I gazed at the young man, the very bright fellow and said to him, “I have a file on your father this thick” — using my fingers to show him — “that if I should use it, your father would be finished. I have decided not to use it because I still have some respect for him.” He immediately asked me what I would have to drink.

Many months ago a man came to me saying that he had been directed by a financial institution to seize a piece of property belonging to a certain organisation that, by law, pays no taxes. During the process it was determined that the individual who was also an officer to the no-tax organisation had privileges and authority which allowed him the facility to sign documents on behalf of the organisation.

It turned out that the man wanted to borrow some money and he had used the organisation’s property as collateral to advance himself the funds. The matter was quashed and died a natural death.

When he ran for office in 1997 and won his seat, it was done on a quid pro quo basis but, based on what took place before and what is taking place now, I am certain that the PNP must now be sorry that it had ever asked him to contest any seat for them.

Some years ago, a certain foundation which had stirred up quite a few poor people’s bank accounts and their emotions when it promised them what could possibly have been delivered, one man faced the irate Jamaicans and was almost mobbed. When the tens of millions of dollars seemingly disappeared into thin air and it died another natural death in the public eye, by virtue of the social “heavyweights” which had attached themselves to it, it was again the man in question who had arranged the conduit through which funds would pass, bleeding the organisation and enriching himself.

Before that it was a certain board. Years ago, I was approached by a lawyer who told me a story involving the man and the board. It was again a damning story, painting him as a sick individual, needing serious psychological help. Again, I left it alone but my file grew thicker.

In the latest instance, it paints him in a more pathological light, making off with $5 million that belonged to a government agency with executive powers. So embarrassing has it been to family, party colleagues and men of the…er… organisation paying no taxes that the time must now be ripe to jettison this individual.

The gist of this column is a warning to the PNP to shed the weight. It is also my way of giving the PNP time to organise damage control. As it has come to me, he is being given out to the birds of prey in the media and the PNP is hoping that as they pick his flesh, it will be his flesh alone and not the vitals of the PNP which will be eaten by the “scavengers”.

KC purple power

It has just occurred to me that I must be the worst KC old boy ever. In all my years of “bigging up” my alma mater in this column, I have on only one occasion attended one of the many happenings put on by the academy of fortis power. Sure I have never failed to donate money to the grand cause but I have failed miserably in lending my presence to fortis, as insignificant as my presence may be.

During the five-year separation from my wife (1982 to 1987), my wife had the power to ensure that Mark Jr attend JC and Maurice Andre attend Calabar.

I have never forgiven Ann, my ex-wife, for that and, I suspect, she did it deliberately. During our time together I told her that if we should ever have girls as children they would be going to KC, even if I had to organise a special form for them. They would many years later thank me for making them into KC old boys.

A few months ago Keith Russell-Brown, head of the Stella Maris Foundation, and Denny Forrester, architect, both KC old boys, and I attended a KC old-boys lodge function at Curphey Place. I made a fool of myself there.

Seeing “Wally” Johnson, present headmaster but my art teacher in my 1963 to 1969 time, there I got up from my seat, went across to him and introduced myself. I stared at the man and said, “Mr Johnson, you have no idea how much you have done for me.”

After saying that, I felt like a 12 year-old as I stood there holding his extended hand and not being able to say anything further. To save me further embarrassment, he said, “Call me and let us talk more about it.”

For this and many other reasons, I am looking forward to seeing all of my old friends at the Mas Camp Village on Saturday. I promise this time to make a fool of myself only to myself alone.

Come to think of it, maybe even JC and Calabar old boys should show up, that is, if they can even measure up to purple power.

KC forever.

If you wish to comment call me at 427-0586.