Integrity Commission hits back at critics following Holness probe

 

The Integrity Commission has labelled as "unwarranted and misconceived" negative comments about its Director of Investigation in relation to a recently tabled report referring Prime Minister Andrew Holness to the Director of Corruption Prosecution.

 

Among other findings, the Director of Investigation concluded that the Prime Minister may have influenced the awarding of contracts to the company of a business associate. 

 

The Integrity Commission has faced increased scrutiny for its handling of the tabling of the report and the publicising of the ruling of the Director of Corruption Prosecution that no charges should be brought against the Prime Minister in relation to the allegations in the report.

 

In a statement Friday, the commission admitted that it received the ruling from the Director of Corruption Prosecution on January 12, approximately one month before the report by the Director of Investigation was tabled in Parliament on February 14. It said its commissioners took time to read and discuss the ruling, adding that there was no provision in law mandating the tabling of a ruling by the Director of Corruption Prosecution.

 

The commission was also at pains to explain that the publication of the ruling could not have been done before or simultaneously with the report. It said on February 15, it received confirmation that the report had been tabled in Parliament and on February 16, it took the decision to make the Director of Corruption Prosecution's ruling public.

 

The ruling was communicated to House Speaker Marissa Dalrymple Philibert and Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson in a letter from the Director of Corruption Prosecution, dated January 12, 2023.

 

But in a post on its Twitter account on Thursday, the Integrity Commission said there was an error in the date on the cover letter, noting that it should have been dated Monday, February 13, 2023.

 

Meanwhile, the Commission maintained that, as outlined in the Integrity Commission Act, its various directors are independent of each other. 

 

It added that the Executive Director of the Commission has no control over the content of an investigation, report or a ruling.