Munroe: Fill vacancies, but don’t delay on Integrity Commission review
Published:Friday | September 6, 2019 | 12:25 AM
Professor Trevor Munroe, the executive director of National Integrity Action (NIA), has said that without the necessary amendments to the Integrity Commission Act, the Government’s anti-corruption agency would continue to operate ineffectively and, thereby, prejudice the prospect of building public trust in the body.
This comes after Minister Karl Samuda on Wednesday said that the Integrity Commission was getting the Government’s full attention and that positions left vacant by recent departures from the agency would be filled.
“What I can say it is receiving the full attention of the prime minister because it is a very fundamental commission on which a lot relies and depends, and we rely on the membership of that commission to discharge their responsibilities in an impartial and professional manner.
“And I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the positions that have been made vacant … will be filled by persons of high integrity and professionalism,” Samuda said at a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
However, the NIA executive director has concerns.
“It is obviously necessary to fill positions left vacant in the Integrity Commission. However, especially in the light of public disquiet, priority should be given to the recommendations made by the commission itself, namely, that a committee of both Houses of Parliament review and amend key provisions of the act so as to allow the body to operate smoothly and effectively to fulfil its mandate,” Munroe said.
On Monday, news broke that the chairman of the Integrity Commission, retired Court of Appeal judge Justice Karl Harrison, had resigned.
News of Harrison’s resignation came weeks after the commission’s acting director of corruption prosecutions, Dirk Harrison, indicated in a letter to Governor General Sir Patrick Allen on August 4, that he would be proceeding on retirement.
The acting director’s retirement became effective yesterday September 1.
The former chairman and former acting director of prosecutions are not related.