ST ANN’S – FORMER intelligence director of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) Carlton Dennie has changed his tune saying Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley did not instruct him to fire all East Indians in the agency.
At the United National Congress (UNC) Monday Night Forum, Dennie said, “I am the person that they asked to fire all the East Indians from the SSA. I told them no! This made the daily newspapers. I reminded Rowley and the then minister of national security (Edmund) Dillon that in this country, every creed and race must find an equal place. I told them no! I am not firing any Indians.”
The next day Rowley called a press conference to condemn Dennie’s statements saying they were dangerous to the social fabric and promoted racial strife in the country.
Rowley denied any interaction with Dennie and refuted the claim that he and Dillon had asked Dennie to fire Indians. He described it as a “categorical lie.”
The Prime Minister said, “It is a most dangerous statement to be made by any officer no matter how aggrieved he or she is.”
On Thursday, Dennie held a news conference surrounded by UNC activists in St Ann’s saying he wanted to set the record straight.
He said, “I did not say that the PM told me to fire the East Indians. I did not say that the Minister of National Security told me to fire the East Indians.”
But he did claim that the orders to fire East Indians came from the top.
Admitting that he has ambitions to get into politics, Dennie said, “I want to go into the Parliament. I took that stance. I want to stand up for the people in Tobago.”
