Brother of UWI Guild president denies nepotism: She did not even select me

Guild Treasurer of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus Kemp Moses is clearing the air over the controversy surrounding his appointment and the consequences it could have on his sister Kerby, who sits at the helm of the guild’s executive as president.

Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, Kemp said despite rumours of any conflict of interest which has led to calls for Kerby to step down, his sister had no part to play in the selection process for his current position as treasurer.

Instead, he defended his appointment by saying his election was legitimate following the resignation of the former treasurer Liam Mohammed.

Kemp also boasted that he is quite qualified for the position.

He said, “ When there’s a resignation, there’s a process to fill vacancies and in the process you can do a by-election or you can appoint. Our appointment process is appointment by interview. Four people were interviewed, and they chose me… She did not choose me, so I don’t see how there is any conflict of interest if she had no voting powers when I was chosen.

“That is my sister. I am her brother. I went through the process very fair, very free. There was about 26 members on the panel in the interview and at the end after vetting everybody, they chose me as the best candidate.”

However, other members of the guild including its vice president Vedanand Hargobin and some members of the UWI administration continue to make demands for Kirby to step down after a motion of no confidence was passed at a Special General Meeting on August 9.

But Kirby claimed the vote was illegitimate since the meeting was not chaired by her, and it involved non-guild members – which is not allowed.

As previously reported by Guardian Media, Kirby maintained that the calls for her removal stemmed from her asking questions after noticing some financial discrepancies.

She admitted yesterday that there is a lot of tension brewing internally as she accused Hargobin of championing calls for her removal. She said Hargobin may have his eyes set on her position.

Nevertheless, a confident Kirby had no plans to resign and instead called for all council members to do their jobs.

“I feel if I had done something totally wrong or if I had something outside my powers as the guild president or outside the functions that I hold, I would have been worried. I would have been concerned. But, as far as I am aware, and I am quite confident to say, that the issues that have been raised about what I’ve done or the actions that I’ve taken they quite literally fall within what I can do as the president. And, if this is a seat that you would like there is a process in order to get it… The last time I spoke with the vice president was actually yesterday (Monday) and he actually just looked me straight in the eye and was like “Just resign!”. I was like ‘Oh, that’s crazy’. That was the gist of our conversation yesterday. Not productive at all but I am open to having more productive conversations with him.”

She added that the former treasurer resigned based on a vote of no confidence due to the circulation of confidential information of the council.

She also added that there continues to be a leak problem in the guild, but said the guild is working on solutions.

There are four executive members including the president, vice president, secretary and treasurer as well as 26 council members.

However, the students’ association drama has also prevented the guild from receiving its approved budget for this new term. At present, the president said they are still awaiting approval from the bursary.

When asked how much the guild’s budget is, Kirby declined to reveal the amount.

But, she did reveal that clubs, which have become the largest stakeholders of the guild, have an increased allocation because the guild wants more activity this year.

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