Confirmation and denial: Sale of Grenada’s diplomatic passports

by Linda Straker

• By law, deposits of EC$10,000 and over must have a source of funds declaration
• Then NNP Government had cash policy for diplomatic passports
• Holders were not allowed to receive diplomatic immunity

Oliver Joseph, the former Foreign Affairs Minister in the Dr Keith Mitchell–New National Party administration which was voted out of office on 23 June 2022, has admitted that the then government had a policy of accepting cash for diplomatic passports. The holders were not allowed to receive diplomatic immunity. “The policy of the Government then was to appoint these diplomatic passport holders as Ambassadors-at-Large if there is no representation in the territory or jurisdiction from where we got an application.”

Joseph explained that all appointments followed a thorough due diligence investigation.

Unlike an Ambassador-in-Residence, usually limited to a country or embassy, an Ambassador-at-Large is entrusted to operate in several neighbouring countries, a region, or sometimes hold a seat in an international organisation like the United Nations or the World Trade Organisation.

The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which Grenada ratified on 2 September 1992, states that a diplomatic agent shall not practice for personal profit any professional or commercial activity in the receiving State.

Joseph said, “Normally, these applicants wanted to focus heavily on the Citizenship by Investment Programme. What we do is conduct a thorough due diligence investigation, and once approved, they are then asked to pay the required funds to the State. The fee was US$150,000, nothing more, and the Cabinet conclusions will reflect the same.”

Joseph said the US$150,000 was paid to the State, and there can be no other figures in a Cabinet conclusion, “because that is the figure we set, and we did not change it in the build-up to the elections. So I challenge those with other evidence to present it.”

During a town hall meeting on Monday, 31 October 2022, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell disclosed that during June, in the midst of the General Election campaign, a Polish national claimed he was requested to pay US$290,000 for a diplomatic passport, with US$150,000 to the State and US$140,000 going to the New National Party (NNP) constituency office in St George South.

“We have the records, so since the Cabinet conclusion said that it was US$290,000 to the State of Grenada, the last time I checked, the Constitution does not establish the New National Party South St George office as part of the State of Grenada. So, my free advice now is that the New National Party South St George office or the New National Party for that matter, should kindly hand over to the State of Grenada the US$140,000 that magically found its way into your bank account,” Prime Minister Mitchell told the town hall meeting at the Grenada Trade Centre.

Describing the move by the Polish national as a gamble in which he lost, the Prime Minister said his Government will not be returning the money despite a request made for a refund. He used the opportunity to advise the NNP office to return the financial donation. “I do not know who advised the Polish gentleman… the gentleman has been asking back for his money. The State of Grenada has no intention of paying back any money to anybody, but I also want to point out and give some free advice to the South St George New National Party that you might have to pay back the man his money,” he said.

“This is essentially trading in diplomacy, or more specifically, trading in a diplomatic passport. This administration has put a stop to this, we will not do it. It is wrong. For a government, days before an election, to be suggesting to people that they could be made diplomats in the middle of an election campaign, it is ridiculous; and that is the kind of challenge that we have to treat with.”

The town hall compromised mainly of well-known supporters of the ruling party.

Norland Cox, who contested the South St George Constituency seat for the 23 June General Election, is distancing himself from the financial donation allegation. “As it relates to what was said, I can clearly state that my campaign, our campaign of which we were unsuccessful, in no way will our records show that we have received any direct funding from any foreign donor. All our support was from ordinary persons, local businesses, and even former parliamentary representatives for South St George who supported our campaign,” he said in an interview on Tuesday, 1 November 2022. “So that is the fact, and I want to repeat again that my campaign and my staff, we have not received or been in contact with any individual… we have not been in any contact with anybody via email, phone call, anything of that sought for any financial support to my campaign,” he said.

Nickolas Steele, the former candidate for the NNP for the same constituency, said he did not receive US$140,000 for his campaign. In an interview, he confirmed that during his campaign for the 2018 General Elections, some financial contributions required him and his office to declare the source of funds.

Grenada’s financial laws mandate that financial transactions of EC$10,000 and over, deposited into an account must have a source of funds declaration. “Once such a cheque is deposited on any account, be it the constituency office or the Party’s account, it will naturally require a source of funds declaration,” Steele said.