I think it's safe to say that the current government
of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas has more holes in it than a colander. Never
in my short lifespan watching politics and government's come and go in The
Bahamas have I seen so many leaked documents and information being thrown out
to the voracious media with an insatiable appetite for the scandalous.
To put it bluntly: The government has a "Deep
Throat" in their midst. An informant, or informants,that have direct
access to, or can have access to, sensitive files and documents of things
the government is currently working on and ones that are
very contentious and sensitive in nature.
No doubt, these leaks have rocked the country.
Better yet, the leaks are sinking the government.
The government is shaken to the very core,
to the point where many instances they are immobilized by
the stunning nature of what happened,what to do about the leaked
information, how to address it, contain it and what should they do with
regard to plugging the leak?
Take for example the "leaked" Public
Hospital Authority (PHA)audit back in 2012. The first of the two leaked
audit reports on the PHA, with the second one being leaked to the public some
time in 2014.
The leak first appeared on an on-line tabloid
for weeks before it hit the national media. The leak indicated several
financial and administrative deficiencies that happened over the last several
years, the most of which was the lack of proper accounting and record
keeping with regard to the medicine stockpile.
To this date, no one "knows" who leaked
the information, how did it get into the hands of an on-line tabloid, and why
did they feel the need to leak an non-vetted document to the press. Most
startlingly was that most of the deficiencies were said to have taken place
under the last administration, so why was there such a veil of secrecy on
issues related to your political opponent? By far the most confusing and
puzzling scenario in that entire affair.
A second leak happened with regard to the management
of the Bank of The Bahamas. Issues surrounding the bank and it's financial
problems surfaced in the local media, particularly with an established tabloid
known for salacious gossip, and was circulating for months before the Governor
of The Central Bank began to weigh in on the matter and confirmed what most of
the world already knew: The bank was having significant challenges and
something must be done.
A reported "leaker" was first dealt with,
put on administrative leave, and then after some investigations took place, was
found that it was not the person in question and since then that person went
back to their job at the bank.
Another leak happened with the audit documents and
financial position with the National Insurance Board slightly before and
directly after the 2012 general election. This was the first in a series of
serious and damning bits of information leaked out to the press about the
management and financial prudence of a major revenue generating agency in the
public sector.
The leaked information prompted an internal audit of
the NIB fund, and as a result ended up with dismissals of key people from their
position within the fund. A matter that had lawsuits and the threats of
lawsuits thrown into the mix.
There were several other leaks of a semi-financial
nature as well. Most notably was the leaked information of the Value Added Tax
Coordinator's tax status with the government. It was found that the main
proponent for the implementation of the VAT had not paid his real property
taxes in years on two major pieces of property that he either owned outright,
or had fiduciary responsibility over.
There was the leak of the Chairman of the state
owned Bahamas Electricity Corporation's electricity bill to the
public, with the public having knowledge of his electricity bill right down to
the exact amount owed to the date and to the penny.
There was the leak of the Value Added Tax Draft
Bill; the National Health Insurance Draft Bill and report done for the
government; the leak of the Letter of Intent for an energy study to be
conducted that caused a parliamentary secretary to lose his post after a
very lengthy public debate ensued on the matter; and now the leak of the
Auditor General's report on the alleged mismanagement of the Urban Renewal
Housing programme, a document that had not been vetted by the authorities in
charge of the programme, the cabinet minister responsible for the programme or
the house of parliament, where the Speaker of The House and the Public Accounts
Committee in the House has oversight and jurisdiction.
What's also odd with these leaks is not the
nature of the leaks, but also what was not leaked. Oddly
enough, questions surrounding the Bahamas Agricultural and Marine
Sciences (BAMSI) contracts and insurance documentation that caused, and
still is causing, tremendous scandal for the government have not
been leaked to date; neither have the details of the mortgage relief
plan not been leaked.
Both of those non-leaked issues are
extremely important to the governance and economic livelihood of Bahamians
depending on their success. The persons in the media would have gauged the
sentiments of the Bahamian people on both of these matters, but
strangely enough,for as highly scrutinized and as much as both of
those issues were debated vigorously in the public, we have yet
to have anything in the media affirming any claim pro or con.
Which leads me to suggest that persons in the
media have the information and are holding back for whatever reason, or
the person leaking the information is tied directly to both issues and leaking
it would surely cause problems for them, to say the very least.
Needless to say: The government has a problem. That
means we as the citizenry have a problem. I am not going to gloss over the fact
that very few, if any of the people alleged to have leaked information, faced
stiff penalties for leaking sensitive government documents to the public for
whatever reason. But it's just that most of the leaks, if not all, have a
particular theme: The are all financial in nature, which means that there is a
strong likelihood of them coming out of the Ministry of Finance, the government
agency headed by the prime minister. That's just where that is.
As in the case of the United States of America,
a media in hyper-drive to the point where their insatiable appetite for
eye-grabbing headlines and stories seems unquenchable, staying silent on the
leaks will not make this situation any better in the long
haul. Especially if the relationship with the media, and now social media,
becomes more adversarial than it is useful.
Just to be on the record: I am one in favour of
information becoming more free to the public, but not necessarily advocating
for a "Freedom of Information Act" to be enacted right now to any
large extent. Even though I can appreciate that sooner or later the latter
has to happen.
I think there area few things the government
can do with regard to making more information available to the general public,
while simultaneously becoming more transparent, and a little more clearer on
the rules of engagement on matters pertaining to the way the country is ran.
For example, applications for employment, or
licensing requests from the government and things of that nature, can be easily
made more free, clear and transparent by: 1. Providing each application or
request or with a checklist (the government uses checklists now in some areas)
and a proposed timeline for when they are supposed to receive a response from
the government; and 2. Using electronic databases for applications and using
time-stamps or application/processing way points that are to be
updated electronically when positions change with that application or
request so folks can see exactly what the status is.
Another issue, and it can also be put forward for
consideration, is that when judgements or decisions are made, the officer that
signed off on either the approval or denial should state clearly through a
document management system that this is the person that made the decision; this
is the judgement or ruling on this particular matter; and this is how we
think/feel one should proceed in the future. That would certainly make things
more open and transparent where folks can hold their government to account for
the decisions they make.
A document management system can work well for the
general public wanting satisfaction, and for public servants that have for
years complained about the litany of what they would call "bogus
and false" reports on their character, assaults that may hinder them from
getting increments and other salary increases and promotions.
While these recommendations may not stop the leaks
outright, they would start the necessary paper trails in official and clearly
transparent details which would make leaking information mundane in
the grand scheme of things, because more relevant things to the average
citizen's lives are free for their perusal. It may also blunt scandal while
putting the government at less risk of hiding more and more documents; i.e.,
the more documents in private, the more paper work you have to manage and keep
track of.
While we have no idea who or what prompted the
leaks, the fact of the matter is that we have a leaker. One which needs to be
dealt with before something comes out that really should not come out. Not
saying that our public officials should hide information, but some things are
best kept out of the public domain until they have been thoroughly vetted and
chunked down to palatable bits that the Bahamian people can digest and not
placed in unnecessary panic mode about something that may not be an avenue the
government wishes to travel.
Youri Aramin Kemp, is
President and CEO of "KEMP GLOBAL", a Management Consultancy firm, based
in the Bahamas which serves all markets. Our core competencies are:
Business and Project Planning and Design; Project Execution; Market
Researchn and Analysis; and Operations Development. Through our
affiliates, we offer Construction Services; Public Relations Services;
and IT and back office support to small and medium sized businesses.
Email: globalviewtoday@gmail.com
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