Despite numerous calls to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in particular, CEO Alexis Rosado, Amandala has received no response in relation to the termination of High Commissioner of Belize to London, Kamela Palma, for apparently dubious reasons.
The story is that Palma was terminated because she refused to leave Tanya Hulse, the daughter of the Minister of the National Emergency Management Organization, Hon. Melvin Hulse, in charge of the High Commission when she left for her holidays in August, for what she considered good reasons.
The letter from Palma to CEO Rosado, written apparently after she had been terminated, provided to us by Channel 5, may shed some light on the matter.
In the letter, Palma described Tanya Hulse’s actions over the past “4-5 months” as a “serious lack of judgment” and did not wish to “condone” her behavior as First Secretary because of alleged “irregularities” that occurred at the mission.
“In light of the reports made to the Ministry about the transgressions of Ms. Hulse,” said Palma, “I am of the considered view that I would be in dereliction of duty if I would hand over charge of the mission to her in those circumstances, and would have been responsible to the Auditor General when an audit of the High Commission’s accounts is performed for so doing …I, in all good conscience, could not have left her in charge of the Government of Belize’s and the mission’s purse, so to speak.”
In the letter she said that Tanya Hulse would have to work to “regain a position of trust and experience” before being allowed to be Acting High Commissioner.
Apparently, the Foreign Ministry didn’t see any problem with Minister Hulse’s daughter, and reportedly, both the CEO and Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington were not happy with Palma’s refusal to leave Minister Hulse’s daughter in charge.
On August 27, 2010, Palma was called in not to be shown an appreciation of her principles, but to give an apology which both the Foreign Minister and CEO demanded of her; she was accused by the Foreign Minister of “deliberately flouting and disregarding lawful authority”.
Palma rejected the accusation as she felt she did not do anything wrong, and a couple days later her termination was announced and took effect on November 1, 2010.