Commentary: Rowley should leave his back door closed

File: Keith Rowley

Three years after moving into the office of the leader of the opposition Keith Rowley discovered there was a 'secret' back door. And on Monday he told reporters "unknown persons" passed through the door and removed documents from his desk in September last year. 

That's nine months ago and we are now hearing about this. Sounds familiar?

This sounds so much like Rowley. It's almost a repeat of his email performance. 

If he didn't know about the back door until two weeks ago how did he know that the missing documents were removed from his office by persons who came through the back door? (Perhaps a whistleblower put a note in his mailbox).

Did he have a surveillance camera that recorded the persons coming in and taking the documents? Was there a witness who saw what happened? How did he "discover" the back door? 

It's also amazing how reporters never asked those important questions. 

Here's another important question. If this happened in September 2012, why is he now talking about it? 

A break-and-enter at his office is a serious issue so did he report this to the police? If he had called in the police as soon as the crime was discovered the police might have found a finger print or some lead to investigate. But he didn't. But you see this is a man who doesn't trust the police. Perhaps he was going to take it to the president.

The break-in happened in September last year, he discovered the secret door two weeks ago but he knows that the thieves who stole the documents came through the back door. Something doesn't make sense. Why is he talking about this nine months later?

The stolen documents, he explained, contained information about a multi-million dollar land deal involving the government.  

According to a report in the Express newspaper: "Rowley said he was only now able to reproduce the stolen documents which involved a “Government friend” who was involved in a multi-million dollar land deal with the Government. We did not know there was a back door here until two Mondays ago." 

There's something fishy about that. 

The documents disappeared in September last year and it is only "now" he has been able to reproduce the stolen documents - nine months later. That strikes me as strange because his Public Relations Officer (PRO) Faris Al Rawi had the identical information contained in those documents AFTER they were 'stolen'.

How do I know? Al Rawi went to the Senate on the 15th of October - weeks after the documents were removed from the office - and spoke at length about that Eden Gardens land deal, giving all the same details Rowley repeated in his media conference on Monday. 

So here's where it gets really confusing: 

• Rowley's documents were removed from his office "through the secret door" in September
• Al Rawi went to the Senate with his 'expose' on October 15, a few weeks later 
• It takes Rowley nine months to get a copy of all the details so he could regurgitate to the media what Al Rawi said in the Senate last October

SO if he wanted the missing information he could have asked Al Rawi, checked the Hansard or simply get it from the Express archives the same way I found it. Why did he wait nine months? Don't you find something illogical about that?

Just for the records, you can read the Express story by Ria Taitt by clicking on this link: BAD DEAL 

Rowley's 'back door' story sounds as bogus as some of the other tall tales he has told in the past three years, including the matter of emails that he raised in the Parliament to try to discredit the Prime Minister and the government.

It has the same kind of story line as Patrick Manning's account on how assassins launched a pre-dawn attack on him and his wife while they were driving to a gym. Like Rowley, Manning didn't bother to report such a serious issue and have it investigated.

Read that story:

Editorial: PM needs to explain why assassination plot was not investigated

Manning's story about an assassination plot was never taken seriously. The police never bothered with it and in typical trini style we just forgot about it. The former PM was clutching at straws because he was drowning politically and needed something that might pull him out.

That's where Rowley has now reached. The PNM jefes are not happy with him. They are saying he has failed and have asked him what he has done in three years to try to help their party get back to government.

Rowley has no answer because in three years he has not offered a single constructive idea for a better T&T. 

So with nothing new to say he has dredged up a nine month old story that Al Rawi had raised with nothing new to add. It fact Roodal Moonilal had already responded to the story nine months ago. This is another of Rowley's conspiracy stories that leaves too many questions unanswered.

It seems more and more like Rowley is standing on his last political legs and with his list of political friends getting shorter every day may very well have to make an exit through that back door.

Jai Parasram