PRIME Minister Bruce Golding said yesterday that he was surprised when he found out that the United States-based law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips was hired on behalf of the Government of Jamaica by attorney Harold Brady.

Golding, in his highly anticipated appearance at the Dudus/Manatt Commission of Enquiry, said he became “livid” when Brady told him during a meeting in September 2009 that the law firm wanted to act on behalf of the Government instead of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which had been agreed upon previously.

“Mr chairman, I became livid. Mr Vaz was in the office when I said to Mr Brady, ‘That is not the arrangement, the Government is not involved in this matter. This a party initiative’. And those were my clear instructions. He said, ‘I understand that… they said they would be more effective if they were acting for the Government of Jamaica.’ And I said, ‘No, no, no.’ And I went further to say, ‘If that is what it has to be, lock it down now’,” the prime minister said.

“…Therefore, you can understand the surprise and alert that those instructions were not followed.”

“Not followed by who?” asked Queen’s Counsel Hugh Small, who is representing the prime minister.

“By Mr Brady,” Golding responded.

Golding said he was anxious to have the August 25, 2009 request from the United States resolved as quickly as possible because of the person involved and that he was willing to pursue an avenue which would foster talks at the level above the US Embassy in Kingston to settle the matter. The prime minister said Brady and Dr Ronald Robinson, the then senator and junior minister in the foreign affairs ministry, visited him at Vale Royal — shortly after the extradition request came — with the proposal of finding a representative in the United States to help resolve the issue.

In addition, the prime minister said that he was further persuaded that this was the avenue to take, based on the US’s attitude for the quick signing of the authority to proceed with extradition process — despite concerns that Jamaican laws were breached as well as Coke’s constitutional rights.

He said the US embassy’s Charge d’affaires Isiah Parnell, had told him in September 2009 that Coke’s extradition was important to the US government and that the Jamaica should make certain the authority to proceed is signed as quick as possible.

Golding said earlier that Coke was typical of what is called a ‘don’ in most communities. He said that Coke was an influential figure in the Tivoli Gardens community and that he knew him since 2005, the year he began representing the West Kingston constituency. He said he met with Coke on several occasions and that Coke was interested in the provision of jobs for unemployed youths in his community of Tivoli Gardens.

Meanwhile, the prime minister described the extradition treaty between the US and Jamaica as imbalanced, and said he intended to address the issue with the US at the conclusion of the enquiry, which is examining the government’s handling of the extradition request for Coke and the hiring of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips.

The prime minister will continue his evidence on Wednesday.

Golding’s evidence was delayed for a few minutes yesterday morning as the lawyer for Solicitor General Douglas Leys, Oliver Smith complained to the commission chairman’s Emil George, QC, Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Cyber Crimes Unit going to his client’s office to search his computer.

George yesterday ordered an investigation to determine who authorised the visit.

On Thursday night, the police offered apologies to Leys and his staff for any inconvenience occasioned by their visit.

As a result, Police Commissioner Owen Ellington has since instructed all cops assigned to the Jamaica Conference Centre, where the enquiry is being held, not to take instructions from anyone participating in the proceedings except for the commissioners overseeing the enquiry.

Meanwhile, the woman who delivered the three suspicious packages to three lawyers at the enquiry — which brought a premature end to Thursday’s sitting — has apologised for her action. She said she was just trying encourage the attorneys — KD Knight, QC, Smith and Small.

The sitting continues on Monday.