Dr. Abigail Pinnock, the daughter of CMU President Professor Fritz Pinnock, defended her father in an emotional video on social media platform YouTube on Tuesday night.
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Abigail Pinnock
Dr. Abigail Pinnock, the daughter of CMU President Professor Fritz Pinnock, has blamed politics and the media for the troubles her father is now facing due to allegations of corruption at the institution.
The corruption scandal has deepened with the findings of the Auditor General's special report on the operation of the school.
Dr. Pinnock took to social media site YouTube on Tuesday night, where she defended her father describing him as a humble man who was being made a scapegoat.
"It's politics, let me tell you that, politics. Fritz Pinnock is not the man that they're trying to make him out to look like, and it's just a sad, sad thing that whenever anybody tries to rise in the country, anybody tries to actually care about the young people, the development of the country - that's where they're getting a fight from," she declared, adding that she is fed up because Jamaica is a "non-progressive" and "evil" place.
She insisted that her father is not a thief, pointing out that many of the benefits given to a president, such as a fully paid for house and helper, were not accepted by her father as he decided not to "waste the school money."
"Half the things you guys don't know," she contended.
She indicated that in conversations with her father about the allegations, he said it was due to bad accounting.
Socrates Award
Dr. Pinnock also addressed concerns about the International Socrates Award that was collected by Professor Pinnock in England in 2016.
In her special audit report on the CMU, Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis said the award cost taxpayers US$10,000.
However, Dr. Pinnock said the award benefited the school.
"That award, he dedicated that to CMU. That award has caused him to open up doors for that school, best believe. Going that function, that networking that he made there opened a lot of doors," she proclaimed.
The Auditor General, in her recommendations to the Permanent Secretary, suggested a review of the circumstances surrounding the reimbursement of the US$10,000 to Professor Pinnock.
She said this will determine whether the reimbursement was appropriate.
Mrs Monroe Ellis also requested that the Permanent Secretary investigate whether the award benefitted the CMU.
The Auditor General said the probe should also look into allegations in the overseas press in order to make a determination regarding the recovery of sums associated with the award.
On October 29, 2018, British media entity, The Telegraph, reported that the company behind the awards had no link to Oxford University but used the prestigious institution's name, as well as photographs of Oxford in its advertising material, to sell invented prizes such as the 'International Socrates Award' for up to £9,300.
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