Integrity watchdogs say non-gazetting of Holness’ statutory declarations ‘disturbing’
Published:Saturday | October 21, 2023 | 12:09 AM
FOUNDING DIRECTOR of the National Integrity Action (NIA), Professor Emeritus Trevor Munroe, says the non-gazetting of Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ statutory declaration summary for the second year running must be a matter of major concern to the public, as well of special interest to the head of government.
At the same time, Robert Stephens, co-chairman of the Advocates Network, has described the situation as “very embarrassing” and “disappointing”.
Stephens said that the non-gazetting of the prime minister’s statutory declarations does not reflect well on the level of trust the people of Jamaica have in the country’s political leadership.
Munroe said that the prime minister “needs to inform the public of his understanding of the reasons why his statutory declaration has not been certified for gazetting and/or the Integrity Commission Act must be promptly amended to allow the Integrity Commission (IC) to disclose the reasons for non-gazetting to the Parliament and the public”.
He argued that failure to do either is going to further undermine confidence in the governance system and contribute to greater public distrust in the country’s democratic institutions.
The anti-corruption campaigner told The Gleaner yesterday that when the requirement for the gazetting of the prime minister’s and opposition leader’s statutory declarations was passed into law in 2017, Holness declared that the full disclosure of assets and liabilities of the prime minister and opposition leader was a most fundamental element of the new anti-corruption legislation.
PM must clear the air
At the time, he also suggested that this requirement should be extended to all members of parliament (MPs) as soon as possible.
Five years later, said Munroe, it is pivotal that the prime minister clear the air on the issue at a time when a majority of Jamaicans now believe that most MPs are corrupt; polls confirm that an increasing percentage of the electorate believe that the administration has a major corruption problem; and the IC has indicated that six MPs are under investigation for “illicit” enrichment.
Stephens told The Gleaner that his organisation has tried to ascertain why the 2021 and 2022 statutory declarations of the prime minister have not been gazetted and what action, if any, would be taken.
“I think that it behooves the prime minister to ensure that these declarations are approved and he sorts out the situation with the Integrity Commission,” Stephens declared.
He acknowledged that the Integrity Commission Act which was approved by Parliament in 2017, contains designated clauses that served to gag employees of the commission.
He indicated that the IC members cannot provide an explanation to the public about the statutory declaration of the prime minister.
Stephens said that governance should be taken more seriously in Jamaica, noting that a “lot of lip service is being paid to the question of integrity”.
He said that Jamaica was not doing well in abiding by the rules that “we set for ourselves”.
Stephens urged the media to “push for clarification and a response from the prime minister”.
Last month, the statutory declaration of Opposition Leader Mark Golding was gazetted as required under the Integrity Commission Act.
The commission published the assets, income and liabilities of Golding and his family for 2022.
The Sunday Gleaner requested a response from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) on October 3, as to whether the prime minister’s declaration for calendar years 2021 and 2022 have been certified and whether he has received any notification from the commission about the status of both findings.
However, the OPM did not respond to The Gleaner’s questions.
“We do not comment on matters related to the Integrity Commission,” de facto Information Minister Robert Morgan told The Sunday Gleaner earlier this month.
Holness’ 2020 declaration, covering the period January 1 to September 3 – the date of the last general election – was published in the Jamaica Gazette on January 10 last year. His 2019 declaration was gazette in November 2020.
The annual Integrity Commission check on the income, assets and liabilities of members of parliament and other public officials is one basic tool democracies use globally in tracking whether public officials are getting rich illicitly at public expense.
The Integrity Commission, in an emailed response, told The Gleaner that it does not comment “on statutory declarations, and where required by law, a declaration that has been certified is published in the Gazette”.