“They have done that to me, to Mr Chaudhry, to Mr Qarase, they tried doing it to Mr Rabuka, they broke the doors and windows in [Aman] Ravindra Singh’s house, even Father Barr was not spared...Who is in control in Fiji? It’s a small group of very, very rich people. They decide on policies. They decide what happens...We have been receiving pain and suffering for 10 years now. It is time for us to stand up and fight. Fiji has enormous potentials. We can build it up again but for that we have to stand up and take action...There must be separation of powers between the three arms of government – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary and the processes that led to the judiciary. There was not much hope for a society where this separation of powers had been destroyed, as was the case in Fiji” - Ganesh Chand to FLP Convention
FLP: Dr Ganesh Chand warns on where Fiji is headed
Academic Dr Ganesh Chand has warned that a society where its “mirror institutions” have collapsed and the three arms of government are no longer independent, that society will be doomed.
Speaking to the Labour Convention last Saturday, Dr. Ganesh warned that Fiji was heading towards the same road as Zimbabwe i.e dictatorship, unless each of us stood up and fought against what was wrong.
In a democracy it is the people who rule collectively. Here we don’t have that, he said and asked:
“Who is in control in Fiji?
It’s a small group of very, very rich people. They decide on policies. They decide what happens.”
He explained there must be separation of powers between the three arms of government – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary and the processes that led to the judiciary.
There was not much hope for a society where this separation of powers had been destroyed, as was the case in Fiji.
Apart from these three arms of the government, there were institutions that acted as mirrors for society – the media, trade unions, NGOs, academic institutions such as universities.
“In the last 10 years, all these have been totally destroyed:
• The media has been totally controlled by government
• The NGOS have been totally silenced
• The trade unions have been totally silenced
• The academic institutions have been totally weakened.
“The situation in Fiji today is that we no longer have these mirrors for society. When you break a mirror where are you going to look for the true images?” he asked.
“The people of Fiji no longer enjoyed the right to dissent. In a society where you purge the right to dissent, that society will collapse, Dr Ganesh warned
“The right to dissent is a basic requirement of any democracy. In Fiji it is totally banned. If you show any signs of dissent, they will send FICAC after you, they will send the police after you, they will send the military – they will use all the weapons of government to crush you because they don’t want dissent.”
“They have done that to me, to Mr Chaudhry, to Mr Qarase, they tried doing it to Mr Rabuka, they broke the doors and windows in Ravindra Singh’s house, even Father Barr was not spared.
“These things are fundamentally wrong. They are abhorrent and it becomes our duty to change what is wrong.”
Dr Ganesh said that both the Geeta (the Hindu scriptures) and the Bible taught that one must stand up against that which is wrong.
Giving his personal example, Dr Ganesh said he lodged a complaint with FICAC because “the 2013 Constitution had been severely breached by certain people in society”.
He never heard from FICAC.
He lodged two other complaints with FICAC involving millions of dollars in corruption. He even asked FICAC for the reference number for his complaint – did not hear from it.
He then wrote to the President and was glad to report that last week the President wrote back to say that he had instructed FICAC to provide a progress report on the matters.
“This is the state of this country. I am an aggrieved party. If as a citizen, my right to redress for grievance is taken away, where do I go? Who do I turn to?
“We have been receiving pain and suffering for 10 years now. It is time for us to stand up and fight. Fiji has enormous potentials. We can build it up again but for that we have to stand up and take action.”
He ended with a quote:
- A body of men holding themselves accountable to no one,
are not to be trusted by anybody -
“It is time for us to stand up and say I do not trust you.”
Academic Dr Ganesh Chand has warned that a society where its “mirror institutions” have collapsed and the three arms of government are no longer independent, that society will be doomed.
Speaking to the Labour Convention last Saturday, Dr. Ganesh warned that Fiji was heading towards the same road as Zimbabwe i.e dictatorship, unless each of us stood up and fought against what was wrong.
In a democracy it is the people who rule collectively. Here we don’t have that, he said and asked:
“Who is in control in Fiji?
It’s a small group of very, very rich people. They decide on policies. They decide what happens.”
He explained there must be separation of powers between the three arms of government – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary and the processes that led to the judiciary.
There was not much hope for a society where this separation of powers had been destroyed, as was the case in Fiji.
Apart from these three arms of the government, there were institutions that acted as mirrors for society – the media, trade unions, NGOs, academic institutions such as universities.
“In the last 10 years, all these have been totally destroyed:
• The media has been totally controlled by government
• The NGOS have been totally silenced
• The trade unions have been totally silenced
• The academic institutions have been totally weakened.
“The situation in Fiji today is that we no longer have these mirrors for society. When you break a mirror where are you going to look for the true images?” he asked.
“The people of Fiji no longer enjoyed the right to dissent. In a society where you purge the right to dissent, that society will collapse, Dr Ganesh warned
“The right to dissent is a basic requirement of any democracy. In Fiji it is totally banned. If you show any signs of dissent, they will send FICAC after you, they will send the police after you, they will send the military – they will use all the weapons of government to crush you because they don’t want dissent.”
“They have done that to me, to Mr Chaudhry, to Mr Qarase, they tried doing it to Mr Rabuka, they broke the doors and windows in Ravindra Singh’s house, even Father Barr was not spared.
“These things are fundamentally wrong. They are abhorrent and it becomes our duty to change what is wrong.”
Dr Ganesh said that both the Geeta (the Hindu scriptures) and the Bible taught that one must stand up against that which is wrong.
Giving his personal example, Dr Ganesh said he lodged a complaint with FICAC because “the 2013 Constitution had been severely breached by certain people in society”.
He never heard from FICAC.
He lodged two other complaints with FICAC involving millions of dollars in corruption. He even asked FICAC for the reference number for his complaint – did not hear from it.
He then wrote to the President and was glad to report that last week the President wrote back to say that he had instructed FICAC to provide a progress report on the matters.
“This is the state of this country. I am an aggrieved party. If as a citizen, my right to redress for grievance is taken away, where do I go? Who do I turn to?
“We have been receiving pain and suffering for 10 years now. It is time for us to stand up and fight. Fiji has enormous potentials. We can build it up again but for that we have to stand up and take action.”
He ended with a quote:
- A body of men holding themselves accountable to no one,
are not to be trusted by anybody -
“It is time for us to stand up and say I do not trust you.”
Dr Ganesh said he lodged a complaint with FICAC because “the 2013 Constitution had been severely breached by certain people in society”. He never heard from FICAC. He lodged two other complaints with FICAC involving millions of dollars in corruption. He even asked FICAC for the reference number for his complaint – did not hear from it. He then wrote to the President and was glad to report that last week the President wrote back to say that he had instructed FICAC to provide a progress report on the matters. “This is the state of this country. I am an aggrieved party. If as a citizen, my right to redress for grievance is taken away, where do I go? Who do I turn to?"
Fijileaks: Like Ganesh Chand, we had asked FICAC what action it was taking against Chand who had been accused of various offences during his time as FNU Vice-Chancellor but we had no response. He later appeared in court charged with one count of abuse of office
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Ganesh Chand is charged by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) with one count of abuse of office contrary to section 139 of the Crimes Decree of 2009.The particulars of the offence allege that Dr Chand while being employed in the public service as the vice-chancellor of the Fiji National University, acted in abuse of the authority of his office by approving the payments for overseas medical treatment for the then Minister for Education and the chairman of the Fiji National University Council, Filipe Bole, without the approval of the Fiji National University Council.
Andrew Moti Singh, FNU's former Manager Finance Project, to FICAC:
ANDREW MOTI SINGH TO FICAC:
Abuse of FNU credit card
In the past, both men [Ganesh Chand and Narendra Prasad] have used their FNU credit card to pay for their personal expenses and to the best of my knowledge have not repaid the amount to FNU. This is contrary to FNU’s own credit card policy which I enclose [ANNEXURE D]. It is patently clear from this policy that any FNU credit card must only be used for “official purposes” (1.1.1).
The policy goes on to clearly state that that the credit card “is not for personal expenditure” (3.1). There is nothing in the FNU credit card policy which specifically gives Chand and Prasad any authority whatsoever to use their allocated FNU credit cards for both business and personal purposes.
Despite such clear restriction, I have found out that both men have been using their FNU credit card for their personal expenditure and have created their individual debtors account for this purpose, in clear violation of the policy. Both will direct the finance staff to debit their personal expenditure incurred through use of their credit cards to their respective debtor account (or customer account). My investigations further revealed that instead of paying their debts the duo would either prolong payment, ignore or anticipate to have these written off. This was all done in collusion with a Shalend Anand whose role I have described below.
I enclose the customer accounts of Chand [ANNEXURE E] and Prasad [ANNEXURE F] from which FICAC will note that Chand owed FNU $15.45 since 2011, $6,810.03 since 2012 and $7,523.55 for 2013. Similarly, Prasad owed $2,159.17 for 2012 and $6,260.93 for 2013. It is patently clear from these documents that both men have been using FNU’s funds to pay for their personal expenditure, in flagrant disregard to FNU’s policy.
Even in a recent internal audit commissioned by Chand, the external auditors Price Waterhouse Coopers implicated Chand and Prasad using their credit cards to pay for their personal expenditure under the pretext of business expense. I enclose an extract [ANNEXURE G].
Despite this finding, both men have not paid their customer accounts, notwithstanding the fact that both knew (or ought to have known) they never had any authority whatsoever to incur the personal expenditure in the first place and then create a “customer account” in the FNU books to evade payment. In short, both have abused their position by unlawfully using FNU funds. What makes matters worse is the duo’s recent attempts to have these amounts written off. I am investigating this aspect of the matter and shall provide documentary evidence to FICAC separately.
This practice has been ongoing for years and should have been questioned by FNU’s senior finance manager, Shalend Anand. Anand is a CA and CPA and the most senior of all finance managers at FNU. The only reason he failed to question Chand and Prasad was because like others, he too was in Chand’s pocket. My investigations revealed that Mr Anand was given annual performance bonus of some $5,000 as kickback for being loyal to Chand/Prasad while other finance staff were ignored for their hard work, simply because they were not part of the Chand/Prasad clan. Those who queried the practice were sacked by Chand/Prasad.
I claim that both men have breached s139 of the Crimes Decree. That statutory provision clearly states that a person working for the public sector who directly or indirectly abuses the authority of his office by an arbitrary act prejudicing the rights of another person is guilty. As already mentioned, both men are employed by FNU – owned by the Government of Fiji. By using FNU’s credit card for their personal expenditure contrary to FNU policy and then not paying the amount due to FNU for such expenditure is clearly prejudicial to FNU and the taxpayers of Fiji. They attempt to have their debts written off makes matters worse. FNU is a “person” within the definition of s4 of the Decree.
Even if the men have recently paid their debt to FNU, this does not absolve them from any criminal liability whatsoever. The legislation makes that very clear. Had they borrowed the amounts outstanding in their credit card accounts from commercial banks, they would have to pay interest and charges. By using FNU funds both have avoided this which must attract severe sanctions, given their seniority and positions of trust. Anand has been complicit in the whole saga and his inactions must be properly scrutinised.
Abuse of FNU credit card
In the past, both men [Ganesh Chand and Narendra Prasad] have used their FNU credit card to pay for their personal expenses and to the best of my knowledge have not repaid the amount to FNU. This is contrary to FNU’s own credit card policy which I enclose [ANNEXURE D]. It is patently clear from this policy that any FNU credit card must only be used for “official purposes” (1.1.1).
The policy goes on to clearly state that that the credit card “is not for personal expenditure” (3.1). There is nothing in the FNU credit card policy which specifically gives Chand and Prasad any authority whatsoever to use their allocated FNU credit cards for both business and personal purposes.
Despite such clear restriction, I have found out that both men have been using their FNU credit card for their personal expenditure and have created their individual debtors account for this purpose, in clear violation of the policy. Both will direct the finance staff to debit their personal expenditure incurred through use of their credit cards to their respective debtor account (or customer account). My investigations further revealed that instead of paying their debts the duo would either prolong payment, ignore or anticipate to have these written off. This was all done in collusion with a Shalend Anand whose role I have described below.
I enclose the customer accounts of Chand [ANNEXURE E] and Prasad [ANNEXURE F] from which FICAC will note that Chand owed FNU $15.45 since 2011, $6,810.03 since 2012 and $7,523.55 for 2013. Similarly, Prasad owed $2,159.17 for 2012 and $6,260.93 for 2013. It is patently clear from these documents that both men have been using FNU’s funds to pay for their personal expenditure, in flagrant disregard to FNU’s policy.
Even in a recent internal audit commissioned by Chand, the external auditors Price Waterhouse Coopers implicated Chand and Prasad using their credit cards to pay for their personal expenditure under the pretext of business expense. I enclose an extract [ANNEXURE G].
Despite this finding, both men have not paid their customer accounts, notwithstanding the fact that both knew (or ought to have known) they never had any authority whatsoever to incur the personal expenditure in the first place and then create a “customer account” in the FNU books to evade payment. In short, both have abused their position by unlawfully using FNU funds. What makes matters worse is the duo’s recent attempts to have these amounts written off. I am investigating this aspect of the matter and shall provide documentary evidence to FICAC separately.
This practice has been ongoing for years and should have been questioned by FNU’s senior finance manager, Shalend Anand. Anand is a CA and CPA and the most senior of all finance managers at FNU. The only reason he failed to question Chand and Prasad was because like others, he too was in Chand’s pocket. My investigations revealed that Mr Anand was given annual performance bonus of some $5,000 as kickback for being loyal to Chand/Prasad while other finance staff were ignored for their hard work, simply because they were not part of the Chand/Prasad clan. Those who queried the practice were sacked by Chand/Prasad.
I claim that both men have breached s139 of the Crimes Decree. That statutory provision clearly states that a person working for the public sector who directly or indirectly abuses the authority of his office by an arbitrary act prejudicing the rights of another person is guilty. As already mentioned, both men are employed by FNU – owned by the Government of Fiji. By using FNU’s credit card for their personal expenditure contrary to FNU policy and then not paying the amount due to FNU for such expenditure is clearly prejudicial to FNU and the taxpayers of Fiji. They attempt to have their debts written off makes matters worse. FNU is a “person” within the definition of s4 of the Decree.
Even if the men have recently paid their debt to FNU, this does not absolve them from any criminal liability whatsoever. The legislation makes that very clear. Had they borrowed the amounts outstanding in their credit card accounts from commercial banks, they would have to pay interest and charges. By using FNU funds both have avoided this which must attract severe sanctions, given their seniority and positions of trust. Anand has been complicit in the whole saga and his inactions must be properly scrutinised.
