Christie commends OCG for taking on PNP campaign finance scandal
FORMER Contractor General Greg Christie has commended his successor, Dirk Harrison, for taking on the People’s National Party’s (PNP) campaign finance scandal.
In a response to questions from the Jamaica Observer, Christie said that Harrison acted appropriately, and in keeping with his mandate under the Contractor General Act.
The Opposition PNP has, since last month, been under pressure when a leaked document from the party’s treasurer claimed that senior members collected millions of dollars from contributors to finance the February 25 election campaign but did not hand it over to the party’s treasury. The scandal worsened with allegations that large Chinese companies operating here pay an agent’s fee for government projects.
Christie, in his take on the matter, said: “His (public defender) primary mandate, under the law, is to ensure that Government of Jamaica contracts are awarded and licences are issued impartiality and on merit, and in circumstances that do not involve impropriety or irregularity,” Christie said.
“In so far, therefore, that allegations have been made of an established practice, on the part of Chinese companies, to pay an agent’s fee of 1-1.5 per cent of the contract award amount to Jamaican politicians, the contractor general’s jurisdiction would be well founded, because such payments, if they have in fact been made, can only be presumed to be criminal bribes or kickbacks,” the former contractor general said.
He added: “A contractor general has extensive powers of subpoena and investigation. These include the power to examine or requisition any person under oath. A false statement made to a contractor general can amount to the criminal offence of perjury. Additionally, Section 29 of the Contractor General Act makes it a criminal offence for a person to wilfully make a false statement to mislead a contractor general, or who misleads, or attempts to mislead a contractor general, in the execution of his functions under this Act.”
According to Christie, if it is true that the alleged practice of the payment of an agent’s fee has been long-standing in Jamaica, he would have absolutely no hesitation in characterising it as institutionalised corruption of the highest order.
“In any such circumstance, it would seem to me that a comprehensive investigation would be required to, among other things, examine, under oath, certain politicians from both the Jamaica Opposition and Government parties, together with contractor representatives, who may have been associated with the award of any major works contract, or licence, that is believed to have been so implicated.
“Be that as it may, it is, however, important to recognise that, at the end of the day, all that a contractor general can do is to make recommendations or referrals to the appropriate authorities. If, for example, he finds evidence of the commission of a criminal offence, he is bound by law to formally refer the matter to the police and/or the DPP who, thereafter, will decide how, or if, the matter proceeds,” he said.
Said Christie:
“While the contractor general may have therefore commenced the process, there are other arms of the Jamaican State that will have a critical role to play regarding the final outcome of the issue, depending upon what the contractor general’s investigation findings reveal.
“As regards the other matters, as reported in the media, that concern allegations of campaign finance donations which may have not been accounted for, or which may have been fraudulently converted, or otherwise, those are separate issues which will require investigation by the police.
“To date, however, given media reports, neither MOCA nor the JCF has definitively acted, either with respect to this latter matter, or with respect to the matter of the agent’s fee allegation.
“MOCA, it should be noted, was established under the stewardship of the then National Security Minister Peter Bunting, who, in his sectoral presentation to the Jamaica Parliament on May 29, 2015, said, inter alia, “MOCA (Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency) is the vanguard agency for detection and investigation of criminal kingpins, corrupt public officials, and professionals who facilitate money laundering.”
“In light of the above, it istherefore curious that an
RJR news story of September 1, 2016, reported that MOCA is now questioning if the campaign funds scandal issue is within its ‘mandate’.
“Among my persistent protestations, since leaving office in November 2012, has been the weak Integrity Commission Bill that was left on the table by the outgoing PNP Administration, for the establishment of an Independent Single Anti-Corruption Agency for Jamaica . That law, despite its inherent weaknesses, regrettably has received support from the National Integrity Action, which has been clamouring for it to be tabled and passed.
“I have publicly documented the major weaknesses in that draft law, and I have made recommendations as to how the law can be strengthened.
“I trust that Jamaicans will use the crisis that is now before our nation to ensure that the Government of the day, and our lawmakers, do not get away with kicking the anti-corruption can just a few feet down the road. Transformational change is urgently required. Even the blind should be able to see that.
“The Government of the day must be held to its pre-election commitment to strengthen the Jamaica anti-corruption institutional framework and, specifically, the Integrity Commission Bill, and to do so in keeping with international best practices in anti-corruption and anti-bribery.
“The previous PNP Government, just like the incumbent JLP Government, had made anti-corruption commitments to the Jamaican electorate, prior to being elected into Office.
“The outgoing (former) Administration, however, failed to fulfil its commitments. In some respects, it did the opposite of what it had committed to do. It had, for example, solemnly promised to ‘strengthen the Office of the Contractor General (OCG)’, but within six months of assuming office, it took the OCG to court in a desperate, unprecedented, but gladly futile bid, to strip it of some of its most critical powers.
“Jamaica must never again allow Government… to make solemn commitments to fight corruption, then fail to keep them. Our governments and our leaders must be held to account, or be removed from office, via the utility of the ballot box.
“We must strive for zero corruption in Jamaica, not some corruption as NIA and others appear to be advocating for.”