As the Stories Unfold
This is what Hartley Henry had to say about Integrity in Public Office........
Under the archaic laws of Barbados that are designed to protect thieves from public calls for accountability, Hartley Henry can’t mention Tourism Minister Noel Lynch in his Nation News editorial column.
But the Tourism Minister’s running away from the electorate during the Brass Tacks debacle is surely the catalyst for Hartley’s editorial. Here’s an excerpt…
If a person cannot state publicly how he or she came by his/her wealth, then that person should be considered high risk for entering the Parliament of Barbados. Similarly, if a person in office at present cannot account for how they came by whatever they have come by, then that person should be considered as not suitable to continue to serve in that high office. Here, I am speaking not only about the funds in local banks and financial institutions, but also about moneys that may or may not be invested, some persons may say hidden, in foreign banks and institutions under corporate cloak.
I believe that the regulations should make provision for the oversight body to go to the far corners of the earth to investigate and ensure that the declarations of individuals are accurate. If you were poor five, ten, 15 or more years ago and today as a politician or “right hand man of a politician”, you are filthy rich, I believe the public has a right to know how you came by such wealth, particularly when the official salaries of politicians are nothing to shout about.
…See Hartley Henry deliver a broadside in The Nation News (link here)