The future of Randy Rolle might be hanging in the balance as The Bahamas consul general to Atlanta found himself in an embarrassing situation on Good Friday.
From a police perspective, it does not appear that Rolle's matter is a serious one, but it is unfortunate that someone representing us at his level got into a spat with the police that escalated into an arrest on Bimini.
This is not good for Rolle's image as he is the person representing our interests in Atlanta.
It is not good for The Bahamas.
Rolle said he was showing foreign investors around at the time of the incident.
We do not know at this point whether his superiors believe the matter is enough to remove him.
Although Rolle was released without charge, it is also another distraction for the government, and for Prime Minister Perry Christie, who has had to deal with one embarrassing situation after the next, involving people tied to his administration.
Rolle appears confident it will blow over soon enough, although there are elements that have caused concerns in the public arena.
On Wednesday, Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade told The Nassau Guardian he sees no issue with the Rolle matter.
But he said the consul general was driving around in a golf cart when an officer stopped him. Greenslade said Rolle was attempting to drive in an area that was cordoned off.
He was arrested for "disorderly behavior" .
"The consul general behaved in a manner that caused him to be arrested and put in handcuffs by the sergeant for disorderly behavior," the police chief said.
Rolle had initially said that he was not arrested.
Speaking to The Tribune, Greenslade said: "The police had reason to speak with Consul General Randy Rolle who was on a golf cart and, of course, pointed him to the area where he should divert. That conversation did not go extremely well.
"It was quite verbal, some verbal jostling between the initial officers and the consul general, and subsequently a sergeant was called in who again made an intervention and had reason to arrest the consul general for disorderly behavior."
Although Rolle was not charged with any crime, his superiors ought to be concerned by the commissioner's conclusions on the manner in which he allegedly behaved.
Greenslade reported that the officer in charge made the decision to release Rolle "pending further investigation".
On Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Rolle returned to New Providence for "consultations with his principals at the headquarters".
We do not know the outcome of the meeting, which was set for Friday. It is unclear who Rolle met with. Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell was out of the country on official business.
Accountability
We are also left to wonder whether Rolle's superiors had been made aware of the matter before it was revealed in a press release by Free National Movement Chairman Michael Pintard on Tuesday.
Of course, it now appears that while Pintard was placing a matter in the public domain that is of public interest, he had some bad information as to what led to Rolle's release. The statement suggested Rolle's release came as a result of political intervention.
Prime Minister Perry Christie has called this a "bold-faced lie" and is taking legal action against Pintard. He also said he will sue media houses that carried Pintard's statement. In a statement on the matter, PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts declared, "The FNM has no credibility and stands condemned."
Roberts' statement continued, "I again urge and caution the media not to accept uncritically claims, accusations, bluster or posturing from political parties and entities with a clear agenda; this process is part of the public duty of the Fourth Estate as it forms the foundation of integrity.
"There has to be some level of due diligence to ascertain the propriety [of] commentary before the same enters the public domain."
As public commentary continues on this matter, we note that the claims made by Pintard were not accepted "uncritically" as Roberts suggested -- at least not by this newspaper, which is all we can speak for. Upon receipt of the FNM chairman's statement, we contacted Deputy Director of Bahamas Information Services Elcott Coleby and informed him of it. We sent him the statement and asked him to inquire whether the prime minister would wish to respond to Pintard's accusation. Christie did not respond that evening. What we received from Coleby was a statement from Rolle, which is what we carried the next day, without any specific reference to Pintard's claim against Christie or Greenslade.
Rolle said in his statement: "I have seen a press release issued by the FNM on my detention at Bimini on Friday last. At no time did I ever call or speak to the prime minister during the time of the events. The matter was resolved without recourse to any politician. I was released without charge and there the matter ended."
He also said in an interview with us earlier that he spoke to no politician on this matter, and in fact still had not up to the point of our conversation on Tuesday evening.
Rolle also told us he reported the matter to Greenslade the following day, which we reported. We also spoke to the officer in charge of Bimini, Superintendent Wendell Smith, who advised us to contact the commissioner's office.
While we did not reach Greenslade on Tuesday after the FNM statement was released, we spoke to Deputy Commissioner Anthony Ferguson, who advised that he would inquire into the matter.
The following day, Greenslade offered to speak to newspaper reporters. Why he declined to go on camera, we do not know, but that is an aside. The commissioner confirmed that neither he nor any politician interfered in this matter. That evening and the following day, we reported his comments.
Where the matter heads from here is an unknown. We do not discount the need for Pintard and others in the public eye to be responsible in what they place in the public domain. This of course includes the media as well. We also believe recent revelations made by the FNM chairman have been important issues to bring to the public's attention.
In addition to the arrest of the consul general, Pintard revealed on March 20 that MICAL MP V. Alfred Gray, a minister in Christie's Cabinet, had intervened in a judicial matter in his constituency. Gray, of course, has said this does not amount to interference or to a violation of the separation of powers doctrine. That said, the attorney general has concluded the matter is serious enough to be forwarded to the police for an investigation.
While Gray has been stripped of his local government portfolio (upon his own invitation, we are told), he remains minister of agriculture and marine resources. The Gray matter appears to be a much more serious issue than the latest distraction the prime minister has faced with the arrest and subsequent release of the consul general. While Christie addresses that matter from a legal standpoint, we would hope that there is a report from Rolle's superiors on the outcome of their talks with him.
Christie has moved speedily to protect his good name. This, of course is his right. He has an unblemished reputation in his 40 years in office. He must continue to guard that. But his swift demand for Pintard to be held to "account for his defamatory assault" left many wondering why Christie has on so many occasions failed to move as swiftly to account for so many missteps by those in his administration.
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