Johnson Smith defends PM's decision to take Integrity Commission to court

By Clinton McGregor 

 

Kamina Johnson Smith, Leader of Government Business in the Senate, on Friday took a swipe at the parliamentary opposition and other critics of the legal action taken by Prime Minister Andrew Holness against the Integrity Commission.

 

Addressing Friday's sitting of the Upper House, Senator Johnson Smith took issue with comments made by Opposition Senator Lambert Brown, that the government is not firm enough on corruption, especially corruption involving members of Parliament.

 

In his remarks, Mr. Brown touched on the legal battle between the Prime Minister and the Integrity Commission over its investigation into his statutory declarations.

 

In response, Senator Johnson Smith accused the parliamentary opposition of seeking to politicise the matter.

 

The senator, who is also an attorney, expressed disappointment with the position taken by the commission. 

 

"There is nothing in this world that is illegal or unlawful about having multiple transactions. Anybody who does business or even operates even in a personal capacity, someone is a hard-working, growing person who is seeking to grow their wealth and who is seeking to do better for themselves and their family, is going to have bank transactions. But POCA (Proceeds of Crime Act) and KYC (know your customer) requirements create the flags where there's something improper," she argued. 

 

Defending the government's track record of fighting corruption, Senator Johnson Smith recalled that the Jamaica Labour Party-led government passed the Integrity Commission Act.

 

"It is this government which provided the budget for the Integrity Commission, the consultances to set up the establishment. It is this government that ensured that there was a strong institutional framework to fight against corruption, expecting that it would be fair, expecting that the legal framework would protect persons from any weaponisation of its tools," she insisted. 

 

Meanwhile, Senator Lambert Brown suggested that the government should have brought the concerns raised by Prime Minister Holness to Parliament instead of taking the matter to court.

 

Among other things, Mr. Holness has asked the Supreme Court to determine whether provision under the Corruption Prevention Act which deals with illicit enrichment is unconstitutional and should be struck down.

 

But according to Senator Brown, with the public having a negative view of politicians, the issues outlined in the Prime Minister's legal filings in relation to the Corruption Prevention Act should, instead, be placed before the Parliament for debate.

 

"It cannot be that we as parliamentarians want to see that offence of illicit enrichment removed from the statute book of the country. It must be an offence, especially since we set up an Integrity Commission to address issues like those. And we have seen annual reports from the Integrity Commission, first saying there are six and then there are two more - eight among us are being investigated," he asserted.