Leader of Government Business Questions Integrity Commission and its Executive Director

Parliament Mourns Three Deaths

In an attempt to gain answers from the Integrity Commission and its Executive Director (ED), concerning the treatment of the recent report, Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Kamina Johnson Smith, sent an official statement highlighting the ED’s Twitter posts and the Commission’s silence on the matter. “It is not an exaggeration to say that the entire Integrity Commission has been brought into public disrepute and subjected to ridicule as a result of the Executive Director’s management of the affairs of the Commission and his public deport on social media,” it said in the statement. Read the statement below:

THE STATEMENT:

Organizations such as the Integrity Commission of Jamaica operate successfully in a democratic society only when they enjoy the confidence and support of the society as a whole and are able to attract and retain the confidence of key stakeholders.

This confidence must be earned and nurtured by fairness, impartiality, and fearlessness, which will together allow the organization to gain credibility in the exercise of its mandated authority. The unjust treatment of the recently tabled Integrity Commission report and belated publicization of the related ruling has been presided over by its Executive Director (ED).

This unusual and bizarre treatment of the issue has been exacerbated by the Executive Director’s republication of material on Twitter maligning the official and posts by both the ED and the Commission itself which curiously omitted any mention of the exoneration of the official.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the entire Integrity Commission has been brought into public disrepute and subjected to ridicule as a result of the Executive Director’s management of the affairs of the Commission and his public deport on social media. The damage to the country, the Office of the Prime Minister, and the Commission itself were compounded by not only the Commission’s silence following the tabling of the report and prior to the delivery of the ruling to the Parliament, but also the ED’s republication on Twitter, of both domestically and internationally issued material maligning the head of one of the three (3) branches of Jamaica’s government as well as posts made by both the Executive Director and the Commission itself which curiously omitted any mention of the prior exoneration of Jamaica’s Head of Government.

There are important questions to be asked which should demand timely answers:

Why did the Commission fail to deliver the Ruling on the report tabled contemporaneously with the report?
What is the explanation for the Commission’s silence after the report was tabled and prior to the delivery of the Ruling at a time when they had the legal authority to publicly correct the speculation and misinformation circulating in the local and international media?
What could explain the actions of the Executive Director on social media at a time when he must have been aware of the exoneration contained in the Ruling?
Is it in the best interest of the Commission and all stakeholders concerned that that the Commission continue in its present incarnation and under its current leadership?
The statement issued by the Commission fails to answer these questions adequately. The reputation and governance of the Commission as an institution must be restored by immediate action which must include an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the actions described above, and the resignation or other removal of the Executive Director.

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