Michael Abrahams | Bad week for Jamaican politics

On Sunday, September 15, the People’s National Party (PNP) held its 86th annual conference. During the event, dancehall artiste Adidja Palmer (aka Vybz Kartel) appeared on the platform to thunderous applause.

Kartel was recently released from prison and is free to attend any political meeting and endorse any political party he chooses. Turning up at the conference is not an issue. Being on the platform, on the other hand, is another matter. Kartel is out and about not because he was found innocent, but because of a technicality. The Privy Council ruled that his trial was unfair. The ruling had nothing to do with innocence or guilt. He was not exonerated.

Since his release, a video has been seen on social media showing him threatening to hit his spouse and another with him performing one of his songs with the following lyrics:

“Kill dem all an dun

Kill dem all an dun

Tall rifle all handgun

Bwoy life a dun

Body deh pon di f***ng grung

Mada bawl out

Kill dem all an dun

Face drop off pon grung

Gunshot pop out one lung

Bwoy life a dun

Body deh pon di f***ing grung”

By giving a platform to someone with this type of energy, the party, in my opinion, is demonstrating a high level of tolerance to thuggery. Interestingly, while he was minister of national security, the PNP’s Peter Bunting expressed concern about the effects of some of Kartel’s lyrics on our youth. Kartel is immensely popular, and his presence at the conference might excite many of his fans and entice them to vote for the PNP. But what does that say about the party’s standards? What kind of message is it sending to our children? Especially in a country plagued by violence.

Two days after the PNP conference, in a report tabled in the House of Representatives, the Integrity Commission (IC) recommended that the Financial Investigation Division (FID), Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ), and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) examine some of the financial dealings of Prime Minister Andrew Holness to ensure that no laws had been breached. The investigation began on a referral that Holness could be in breach of the Corruption Prevention Act, the Parliament (Integrity of Members) Act, and the Integrity Commission Act and sought to ascertain whether he owns assets disproportionate to his lawful earnings and if false statements had been made in his statutory declarations.

For example, the report listed four companies that earned income but filed nil tax returns. According to the report, “These discrepancies raise significant tax compliance concerns. Also, a financial institution provided a loan of $50 million to a company owned by Mr Holness, but “several inconsistencies and errors were found in the collateral documentation”.

MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS

The issue of misappropriation of funds also arose. Mr Holness used funds (US$32,107.02) from the Positive Jamaica Foundation, a registered charity, to partially finance the purchase of a US$94,000 bond. The investigation declared, “This raised concerns about the commingling of personal and charitable funds and led to further scrutiny of Mr Holness’ financial activities,” and the FID was asked to investigate the matter in addition to tax-compliance issues and unexplained financial transactions.

The report also highlighted several conflict-of-interest concerns regarding business and public roles and private interests involving the prime minister and Mr Norman Brown, who is the chairman of the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) and the Urban Development Corporation (UDC). The report suggested that these conflicts, if not managed properly, could harm the public interest.

Regarding his statutory declarations, the investigation revealed several issues with his bank accounts, including omissions, currency errors, incomplete declarations, and unexplained transactions. The report stated that “these issues led to multiple rounds of investigations and requests for additional information”.

The statutory declaration, however, was inaccurate and incomplete. The report stated that Mr Holness “did not provide a schedule of his personal expenses for the period covered by the investigation” and “refused to submit the information”, providing “a significant obstacle in determining whether there was any illicit enrichment”.

This multiplicity of issues is not a good look for Mr Holness. To make matters worse, the timeline of communication between him and the IC suggests that he was not forthcoming when he said he could find no evidence of anyone in his party being investigated for illicit enrichment. On January 12, 2023, a judges rule interview was conducted with Mr Holness, where further written information was requested, and letters were sent to him on January 22 and May 26 later that year. But on August 17, when asked by journalists if any lawmakers on his side of the political aisle were being investigated for illicit enrichment, he said he had “asked as far and as wide” but was unable to find anyone who answered in the affirmative, also stating that he had not heard of anyone in his party being written to regarding illicit enrichment.

The prime minister, however, denies wrongdoing and has rejected aspects of the report. However, the findings of the investigation are damning. The prime minister has not been found guilty of illicit enrichment. However, he has not been cleared either as there are still too many unanswered questions and missing information, hence the referral to the FID, TAJ, and the FSC.

And this is why the majority of Jamaicans do not vote. Both parties are seriously flawed. In my opinion, if you are a Comrade and are comfortable with Kartel’s appearance on the PNP conference platform, or if you are a Labourite and see nothing wrong with the prime minister’s statutory declaration issues, you are also part of the problem. Tribal politics is one of our nation’s major stumbling blocks — too many put party before country. We deserve better, and we must demand better from both of our major political parties and not be afraid to call them and their leaders out when they err. Our country is hurting.

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator, and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams.