Smart City Solutions Inc. (SCSI) the company behind the controversial parking meter project, has announced through its Public Relations (PR) officer Kit Nascimento that they have cut ties with its sidelined Director Ifagbamila Kamau Cush because of the disparaging comments he made on Facebook.
According to the statement, the Board of Directors of SCSI “have today dismissed Ifagbamila Kamau Cush from his position as a Director of Smart City Solutions Inc… On Thursday, 9th February, 2017, Mr Cush issued statements on Facebook which Smart City Solutions Inc. found completely unacceptable and publicly condemned as disgraceful. Mr Cush made these statements without any reference to nor the authority of Smart City Solutions Inc.”
Cush had said on Facebook, after being requested to provide a copy of the parking meters contract, that “You’re not progressives. You are freeloaders. You lack the intestinal fortitude to control your own destiny. You all possess the mentality of slaves, indentured servants, incapable of generating wealth and building capacity.”
Subsequent to Cush’s statement, SCSI in a public missive disassociated themselves from his remarks while adding that “Smart City Solutions fully recognizes the democratic right of all persons and organizations to express their views, disagreement with and, indeed, protest against any matter. Smart City Solutions is entirely (committed) to freedom of speech and assembly.”
Cush then continued his tirade, stating after the publication of his first post that his remarks were his “personal opinion. I did not utter those statements on behalf of Smart City Solutions. The protestors represent a cabal of misfits who add no value to the productive capacity of our country. They bring no gravitas, no moral authority to the conversation.”
He was at the time referencing the Movement Against Parking Meters (MAPM) whose two protests gained significant traction as protesters in large numbers issued calls for the controversial project to be scrapped. The movement is scheduled to hold its third protest today in front of the City Hall.
Cush who had been the face of the skeptical parking meter project during its infancy was swept aside last year when SCS was taken over by a Mexican company with Amir Oren and Simon Mosheshvili as the key investors.
Recently, information came to the fore that Cush had been jailed for four months in New York in 2002 and placed on five years’ probation for grand larceny in the third degree.
In court documents seen by INews, Cush plead guilty on March 15, 2002 to grand larceny in the third degree in the County Court of Nassau County. He was sentenced to four months of incarceration and five years of probation, and he was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of US$7,981.50.
Cush did not appeal and was released from custody on May 5, 2002. On November 20, 2006, Cush was charged with violating the terms of his probation. The County Court signed a Declaration of Delinquency and a warrant was issued for Cush’s arrest. Cush was returned on the warrant in November 2006 and released on his own recognizance the next month. He was then returned again on the warrant on August 30, 2011, and he has been in custody since that time.
On September 13, 2011, Cush was brought to court for a pre-violation hearing conference. Although further court proceedings were scheduled for September 20, October 11,
and October 24, each of these court dates was adjourned in succession. On November 15, 2011, the court convened the parties and scheduled a hearing on Cush’s alleged probation violation.
Confirmation of his guilty plea would mostly likely raise serious questions as to whether there was any due diligence done on him by the Mayor and City Council prior to the orchestration of a deal with him for the controversial parking meters in Georgetown.
