by Linda Straker
- Roberts took photos in Parliament to indicate need for MPS to have screen protectors
- No expectation of privacy sitting in Parliamentary Chamber due to its design
- Former President of Upper House said that while Parliament is a public space, its activities are sacred
Vincent Roberts, Chairman and Commissioner of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission in Grenada, has admitted to using a camera to take photographs while the Members of Parliament (MPs) are in session in the Chamber. He was quick to point out that his action was to highlight a weakness.
“You cannot expect privacy sitting in the Parliamentary Chamber. Look at the design, people sitting behind, and they [are] reading your screen. I have brought it to the attention of others, I have taken photographs of their screen and said hey, you have to get a screen protector or get some other means,” he said during a discussion on “The Bubb Report Report,” a weekly Sunday discussion broadcast on social media platforms include YouTube and Facebook.
Hearing the admittance, host Dr Kellon Bubb interjected to seek clarification: “You [are] saying you have taken photographs in the Parliament?” he asked.
“I have seen it, and I have taken it and used it to indicate to the member that look your screen is visible and you need to protect it,” Roberts responded. Roberts was the ICT advisor to former Prime Minister Tillman Thomas from 2008 to 2013.
Recently, in Grenada’s Lower House of Parliament, an unknown person filmed and subsequently made public via social media a video of Opposition Member of Parliament Kate Lewis-Peters scrolling through her personal mobile phone during a sitting. She said the recording was unauthorised.
Roberts believes that Parliament is a public space and an MP openly using a mobile phone does not inherently have a protected right to privacy. “While unauthorised recording within the chamber may be a rules violation, it does not constitute a legal breach of privacy, as MPs are subject to public scrutiny when carrying out their duties.”
However, Chester Humphrey, former President of the Upper House, who was also discussing the topic, said that while Parliament is a public space, its activities are sacred. He further described the unauthorised filming as spying on a member of the House.
The incident occurred during the 18 January 2025 sitting of the Lower House. Since then, Kate Lewis-Peters, the subject of the unauthorised video, has officially written to House Speaker Leo Cato requesting that an investigation be conducted to find out who is responsible for capturing the video, and why it was done and published via social media.
the video’s publication has been condemned by Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell; and MP for St Andrew South East and NNP political leader Emmalin Pierre.
