GRAND CAYMAN – The Governor of the Cayman Islands, Anwar Choudhury, will not return to the British Overseas Territory three months after he was temporarily withdrawn from his post so as to allow the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to investigate a number of complaints against him, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Governor’s Office.
The brief two paragraph statement said that following an investigation into a number of allegations “Choudhury will not return to the Cayman Islands as Governor, but will return to another diplomatic posting in London”.
“A short term successor will be appointed soon while the recruitment process for a permanent replacement is underway,” the statement said, adding that the FCO “will not be commenting further”.
In June, Premier Alden McLaughlin, announced the temporarily removal of Choudhury after he had been invited to the House of Lords to meet with Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for the Overseas Territories.
“There the minister formally advised me that His Excellency the Governor, Mr Anwar Choudhury, has been temporarily withdrawn from his post as Governor of the Cayman Islands to allow the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to investigate a number of complaints against him,” McLaughlin said.
He said that the investigation into Choudhury, 59, a Bangladeshi-born British diplomat, who was sworn in as Governor in March 2018, was likely to last at least six weeks.
“The minister insisted that no further details could be provided at this stage and indicated that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not intend to make a public statement regarding the matter,” McLaughlin added. (CMC)
