Dear Sir:
Whilst in her November 2019 “revelations” Annette Sanford attempts to paint herself as a pawn in a high-stakes attempt by the government to bribe her into bowing out as an election candidate, the reality is a far different story. Sandford’s story is false and a total fiction invented to gain the greatest political mileage as a United Workers Party (UWP) political activist.
Sanford began this instigation by approaching a person she considered a close personal friend for several years in whom she had confided in over those years during her many meetings and discussions with him. Indeed, on August 23, 2019, she wrote:
“Congratulations. I see you have disrupted my sleep pattern … Good morning.”
The incontrovertible WhatsApp records and conversations with this friend disclose that rather than the victim which Sanford seeks to play, she was, in fact, the originator and instigator of a ploy to reap personal benefits following what she has herself described as her error in participating in local government elections.
The unvarnished truth is that it is Sanford who sought assistance from her friend after convincing him that she had financial difficulties following her resignation from her nursing job to contest local government elections. It is Sanford who, first verbally and thereafter in writing, sought the prime minister’s assistance in not only having her reinstated into the nursing job but additionally, to provide her with a promotion. This was reduced in writing by her letter dated August 29, 2019.
It was Sanford who requested, in a message on August 25, 2019, that her meetings and discussions with her friend had to done clandestinely because, as she wrote:
“ Mr Sanford will definitely be blowing the roof when he finds out.”
It is Sanford who indicated to her friend on August 28, 2019, that:
“… my husband is pissed that I have decided not to run, so let’s leave him out of the equation for a bit as he won’t digest anything right now.”
This message of August 28 is important. It establishes that at the time of her clandestine meetings with her friend, she was not interested in being the UWP candidate and that her husband was clueless of her machinations. She became the candidate on September 10, 2019.
Sanford’s allegation that she was offered money to drop out of the race after her selection on September 10, 2019, is therefore ludicrous and false.
The indisputable WhatsApp messages sent to and received from Sanford disclose that her discussions about money, a job and promotion took place in August and early September 2019. This was after she lost the local election in July, and after she disclosed to her close friend that her entry into local government elections had left her financially ruined, and therefore she was not interested in running, and days before she became the UWP candidate on September 10, 2019.
These pre-selection discussions and messages unambiguously repudiate any suggestion that the prime minister or the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) offered Sanford any inducement, monetary or otherwise to withdraw from a position which she never had in August and before September 10, 2019.
There is nothing to suggest any post-selection discussions.
In view of these incontrovertible messages, how could the prime minister and the DLP have approached Sanford in August or early September to withdraw from the candidacy when she failed to secure a majority at the local election, was not the first or even the second candidate considered or selected by the UWP to run in the Kalinago Territory, and was not the candidate?
The above facts, therefore, beg several questions and answers:
(i) Can Sanford deny that she is the one who initiated the discussions with her friend and suggested the sum of $120,000.00 more specifically in light of the following which she mentioned to her friend:
a) She needed money to complete her house in the Territory and do some work on the house in Canefield;
b) She and her husband were having difficulties securing a loan;
c) She wanted to purchase a small vehicle to travel around more conveniently to train young woman in an endeavour she had started;
d) She wanted extra money for personal expenses;
e) She wrote the letter dated August 29, 2019, to the prime minister seeking not only reinstatement to her job but also a promotion;
f) Her husband had applied to the Independent Regulatory Commission (IRC ) for a job; and that
g) She wanted her friend to follow up on the application made to the IRC by her husband.
(ii) Whether Sanford forwarded the following messages on September 8, 2019:
“Bro, you sell the van man? I see Anette stepping into a black jeep yesterday afternoon across the gardens.
“You don’t have to answer. Am coming down. After service, we need to talk…”
(iii) Why was Sanford silent between August and November? Was it because in August she was not the candidate, had indicated she was not interested in running, and therefore there was no offer was made to her to withdraw her candidacy? Or is there some other yet to be disclosed reason? Tic toc tic toc!
These questions, among many others which may be asked, point to the proverbial hound dog that never barked.
In view of all of the circumstances, and the WhatsApp messages, it is clear that Sanford’s assertions against the prime minister are nothing but lies calculated to portray herself as a “heroine” in order prevent and/or distract from her conduct, and what is shaping up to be another significant electoral defeat for her, which is on the horizon.
Kalinago Warrior
