March 2009 Archives

30 March 2009 - (Belizean.com) The former Prime Minister of Belize Rt. Hon. Dr. Manuel Esquivel age 69 is in a serious but stable condition after being involved in a traffic accident between mile 31 and 32 on the Western Highway between Belize City and the capital Belmopan. Mr. Esquivel as leader of the United Democratic served as Prime Minister of Belize from 1984 to 1989, and again from 1993 to 1998. He is currently a senior adviser with ministerial rank in the government of Prime Minister Dean Barrow.

Mr. Esquivel was on his way to work in the capital Belmopan when the driver of the Nissan Pathfinder in which he was traveling lost control of the vehicle. Eyewitnesses say the vehicle ran off the road, hit a culvert, went up into the air and rolled over several times.

Belmopan, Belize 22 March 2009 - The Belize Government has officially announced that it does not intend to to honor the BZ$ 77 million dollar awarded by the London Court of International Arbitration this week in its dispute with Belize Telemedia Ltd. The decision  by the Belize government has raised serious concern among investors who have for some time now been worried about the validity of contracts and legal certainty in this former British colony located in Central America.

Belmopan, Belize 12 March 2009 - (Belizean.com) The Belize Supreme Court has today handed a significant victory to former Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Said Musa in granting him leave for judicial review against a charge of theft lodged by the newly installed United Democratic Party government.

Belmopan Magistrate Earl Jones had comiitted Rt. Hon. Musa to the Supreme Court for theft but Chief Justice Hon. Abdulai Conteh agreed with the defense that magistrate Jones' lower court order was rife with fallacies, inconsistencies and errors in law and jurisdiction as to warrant a judicial review.

The current Belize government has been engaged in what is widely regarded as a politcal witch hunt against its political rivals since it took office a little over a year ago.

To date the U.D.P. government has not been able to employ a Solicitor General following the resignation of the substantive official appointed by the U.D.P. - a highly regarded professional trained in the U.K. - and the subsequent flight of two imported crown counsels from Canada who abandoned their appointments amidst allegations of a politicised executive legal branch.