Temo Says No Other Tribunal on Reinstated Pryde

In an unexpected twist, the reinstated Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is not returning to office today as planned.

Last Friday, Chief Justice Salesi Terna sent a let­ter to Mr Pryde, seeking his response to a new se­ries of allegations regarding 'misbehaviour' dur­ing his tenure as DPP.

This fresh batch of allegations comes just a week after Mr Pryde was cleared by a tribunal that had investigated similar claims, recommending his re­instatement with full pay and benefits. The initial tribunal came at a cost of $88,597.45 to taxpayers.

Mr Pryde has been given 14 days by Justice Terna to respond to the new allegations.

When this masthead asked Justice Terna about the possibility of another tribunal, he responded: "No no, there will be no other tribunal."

Justice Terna is also the chairperson of the Judi­cial Services Commission.

Justice Terna declined to comment further on the contents of his letter to Mr Pryde.

New allegations

These new set of allegations were made after she stated that she picked up anomalies of payments done to Mr Pryde since 2012.

Ms Tikoisuva had said she reviewed the files and picked up the anomalies when she was calculating the refund of salaries that was supposed to be repaid to Mr Pryde, as per the President’s orders.

“She (Ms Tikoisuva) has specifically requested that the Honourable Chief Justice suspend me and set up another Tribunal to hear the fresh allegations she has made against me,” Mr Pryde confirmed in a statement yesterday.

“I reject these new allegations completely and question both the timing and why they were not raised in the past 21 months,” he said.

“The allegations are numerous and detailed and will require time and my full attention for me to address them and provide the various original documents which I will need to locate in order to refute them.”

Onerous exercise

Mr Pryde said responding to the allegations put forward to him would be ‘an extremely onerous exercise’ and he would do so in the days given to him to respond.

“Locating documents stretching back to 2012 which have already been subject to government audit and will require a detailed search. I have been given 14 days to respond.

“The seriousness of the allegations and the potential for yet another Tribunal to be established to investigate these claims means that I will need to expend considerable effort over the next two weeks in order to provide the necessary responses and documentation to the Hon. Chief Justice within the timeframe.

“This is why it is necessary for me to fully address the complaints and try to prevent another Tribunal from being established and potentially another 21-month wait for a conclusion.

“I have therefore informed His Excellency, the President that I intend to return and resume my duties after I have dealt with these latest allegations on Monday 3rd February 2025.”

Mr Pryde said he was certain that any investigation would again clear him of wrongdoing.

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