Two IC reports for tabling
Questions raised about whether House Speaker erred in holding papers
Published:Friday | July 7, 2023 | 12:14 AM
WHEN TOM Tavares Finson, president of the Senate, or his deputy, presides over the sitting of the Upper House today, he will have two reports from the Integrity Commission (IC) before him for tabling.
The first is the annual report of the IC received by Parliament on Thursday, June 29, and an investigation report delivered at Gordon House on July 5, 2023.
The reports were addressed to the Senate President, Speaker of the House and Clerk to the Houses of Parliament.
At the same time, three reports from the Auditor General’s Department (AuGD) have been before the Senate and House for tabling for more than two weeks now.
Questions have been raised about whether Speaker of the House of Representatives Marisa Dalrymple Philibert erred in her decision on Tuesday not to table the reports.
Dalrymple Philibert said she planned to hold the reports for two months in keeping with the law.
The Speaker said she was guided by Section 30 of the Financial Administration and Audit (FAA) Act and was dispensing with convention to follow the instructions set out in the legislation.
The legislation speaks to the treatment of reports from public bodies. However, at least two of the reports held by Dalrymple Philibert are about executive agencies.
Audit reports on the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) and the National Works Agency, both executive agencies, have been held by the Speaker.
The Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act – Section 2(c) – defines a public body as “a statutory body or authority or any government company, but does not include an executive agency designated under the Executive Agencies Act”.
Dalrymple Philibert also signalled that starting on Tuesday, she would be following Standing Orders 73D in relation to the review of IC reports by the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee.
Standing Orders 73D says the oversight committee shall have the duty to review the annual report and any other report of the IC.
It also says that the oversight committee shall convene and consider a report submitted under Section 34 of the IC law within 30 days of the submission of the report.
However, checks by The Gleaner revealed that for the parliamentary year 2021-2022, the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee met twice.
During the 2022-23 parliamentary year, the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee met only once, to review the Westcon Investigation Report in March.
Director of Investigations at the IC, Kevon Stephenson, had referred a report to the Director of Corruption Prosecution Keisha Prince-Kameka for a ruling.
Stephenson’s report had implicated the prime minister in an alleged conflict of interest after he concluded that Holness may have influenced the awarding of millions of dollars in government contracts to the company of a business associate.
However, Prince-Kameka ruled that no charges would be preferred against the prime minister.
Her February 13, 2023, ruling stated that in relation to conflict of interest allegations against Holness, “with additional material being made available, which investigations have failed to contradict or provide more evidence in support of the offences contemplated, no criminal charges can be laid”.