This TTFA presidential election is supposedly trying to make a major issue clear. Corruption as we know it, as championed by the infamous Renraw (aka Jackulito) along with his crime syndicate, will not be tolerated anymore. To pass the “smell test” as a so-called reforming presidential candidate, the first thing these candidates are doing is showing how much they say they are distancing themselves from the “past”, as a convenient metaphor for Jackulito, if they dare not mention his name. Even the campaign managers and spokespersons are touting their candidate’s eligibility on how much they are against Renraw. It would therefore come as embarrassing hypocrisy, should it be discovered that any of these candidates are really Trojan horses that have in the past been paid for, signed sealed and delivered by Jackulito’s organizations or have been still linked to any suspicious web of activity, whether in political circles, organizationally, alleged scheming or bobol, that suspiciously have much more to do with other things than the football they claim to be solely interested in.
Any candidate has a right to be involved in politics as I’m sure many of these here have been and in non-football activities nationally too, but when the politics is dangerously & closely tied to a specific contentious Uncle Jackulito as the main protagonist of destruction of our yet-to-be-rescued T&T football, then eyebrows must raise. With minimal effort to vet these candidates, just based on internet data, it is worrisome when the following snippets pop up instantly, before you could finish press search on Google: Text excerpts (you never know, they could just be harmless coincidental news) are put below the reference links, if you have stomach to read further.
1.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-10-17/moonilal-seeks-answers-oudit-cordner….. called on ILP’s Lange Park
candidate Ramesh Ramdan to say if he was the same
Ramesh Ramdan who allegedly
violated customs laws in 2005-2006 for illegally importing rum and was later charged thousands of dollars. Moonilal said if it was not the same person he would apologise to
Ramdan, but he wanted
Ramdan to explain ….
2.
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,186101.html…. Last Friday, ILP
leader Jack Warner said his party should appoint the Mayor and Deputy Mayor because it received the most votes in the electoral districts of the CBC.
However,
Warner’s efforts may hit a snag because a petition with over 600 signatures from ILP supporters has been sent to him indicating that they are
not in favour of his aldermen nominees, Ramesh Ramdan and Indra Jagassar Maharaj.
3.
http://worldreferee.com/referee/ramesh_ramdhan/dyk…
Jack Warner, good friend of Sepp Blatter, corrupt football official according to many (FIFA vice-president, president of CONCACAF) and Deputy Political Leader leader of the United National Congress (UNC),
must be an important man in Ramesh Ramdhan's life. Not only could he talk to Blatter about having a ref from T&T at the World Cup,
he also was the one to appoint him alderman and into what could be a political career.
… "It is sad to see what Trinidad politics has come to. Such an individual as
Ramdhan as an Alderman. With
numerous court cases in his past where individuals sueing him for monies he
dishonestly took from them; cases where the for. These are all in the public domain, and
Trinidad and Tobago Customs and Excise Division investigaed him for fraud, and subsequently charged him yet he prances around as a representitive."
Ramesh Ramdhan left his job at customs in 2007.
In a local match
in 2004 a certain Marvin Phillip spat on Ramdhan and
Ramdhan retaliated by kicking him. The
player was banned and fined and the
referee later said this was the only thing in his career he regretted. ….
I have to stop now as meh belly beginnin’ to hut meh. So, to SP (Sweetie Paper), maybe RR is a good fellah eh, and as suggested by SP, hardly could be beholden to the main man Uncle Renraw, but these articles make me nervous about his true independence, associations and motives, especially when not admitted forthrightly.