Kamina Johnson Smith
.png)
Robert Morgan, Minister with responsibility for Information
The government says it would be inappropriate to reveal the sum that was spent by corporate Jamaica to fund the public relations campaign for Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith in her bid for the post of Commonwealth Secretary General.
International marketing firm, Finn Partners, also provided media relations and thought leadership services over three months at a cost of $15 million.
The information was revealed in June by New York based communication firm O'Dwyer's.
O'Dwyer's said the US$99,000 contract with Mrs Johnson Smith expired on June 30.
A release from the Office of the Prime Minister on Sunday stated that the government was not a party to this arrangement.
Speaking with Radio Jamaica News on Monday morning, Minister with responsibility for information, Robert Morgan, said the government is not in a position to speak on the private donation as it would be "highly inappropriate".
"That was a private arrangement between two private companies. The government was not a party to it. We have released all of the information that the government is party to," he said.
The OPM disclosed in its release on Sunday that more than $43 million was spent by taxpayers to fund Mrs Johnson Smith's failed campaign.
It said $18.2 was spent on lobbying expenses related to air and ground transportation, COVID-19 tests, meals and accommodation, and communications support activities for the staging of events, such as the launch and engagements with delegations.
It also included IT support, printing of documents, photography, food and beverages.
An additional sum of more than $25 million was spent for the Jamaican delegation to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda in June, where the vote took place.
The OPM said the cost to attend the conference was split among three ministries, with the Office of the Prime Minister shouldering $12.8 million, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade paying $7.7 million, and the Ministry of Tourism contributing the remaining $5.1 million.
Despite the issuance of a release to outline the funds spent by the government, Mr. Morgan noted that Prime Minister Andrew Holness will still respond in Parliament to questions on the financing of the campaign that were tabled on June 28 by Member of Parliament Julian Robinson.
The parliamentary opposition has said it will respond to the release from the OPM later on Monday.
RJRGLEANER poll
The RJRGleaner Communications Group will on Monday afternoon release the results of a poll on how Jamaicans viewed the money spent on the campaign for Kamina Johnson Smith for the position of Commonwealth Secretary General.
Fieldwork was conducted from July 16 to 26.
It involved interviews among 1,113 people in a nationally representative sample of persons aged 18 years and older.
comments powered by Disqus
.jpg)
All feeds
