{"id":29959,"date":"2023-09-14T23:42:32","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T04:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=29959"},"modified":"2023-09-14T17:39:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T22:39:00","slug":"enact-anti-corruption-legislation-fnm-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/enact-anti-corruption-legislation-fnm-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Enact anti-corruption legislation, FNM Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bahamas<\/p>\n

Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard said the Davis administration should enact a suite of anti-corruption legislation, including a Public Anti-Corruption Act, a Public Officials Code of Conduct Act and an Integrity Commissions Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Integrity Commission would be an independent body fully empowered to investigate, report on, and \u2013\u2013 where deemed appropriate \u2013\u2013 recommend individuals for criminal sanction on matters related to allegations of public corruption,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

An Integrity Commission Bill was among the first the Minnis administration tabled in the House of Assembly in 2017. The bill would give the commission unprecedented and wide-ranging powers, allowing it to exercise powers similar to the Supreme Court during investigations and search and seizure powers typically\u00a0reserved for the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF).<\/p>\n

However, after running an anti-corruption election campaign, the Minnis administration failed to debate and pass the legislation.<\/p>\n

In his press statement, Mr Pintard urged the Davis administration to update provisions related to the Office of the Auditor General to expand and entrench the powers of that office.<\/p>\n

The budgetary and human resources of the auditor general\u2019s department should fall under the remit of the Parliamentary Services Commission as the office is not accountable to the executive branch of\u00a0government,\u201d he said. \u201cThe remit of the auditor general\u2019s office must be expanded to expressly include Management audits and management process reviews.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Pintard said the government should give a \u201cfirm and imminent time\u201d for the debate and passage of the ombudsman bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere must be an ombudsman office fully staffed and established no later than March 2024,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also called on the government to set an appointment date for the full enactment of the Freedom of Information Act, saying the country must have full implementation by January 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cFailures in accountability and transparency,\u201d he said, \u201care strangling economic growth and national development.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PLP came to office with a documented electoral mandate to improve accountability and transparency,\u201d he added. \u201cBut to them, that simply has meant more public relations and staged press events. Yet, this is not what it means to be fully accountable and transparent. We believe it is well beyond time for the government to give full life to the principles of open government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Pintard also urged the government to spur a \u201cfull and independent investigation\u201d to immigration matters that have attracted headlines recently.<\/p>\n

In addition, he urged the administration to establish select parliamentary committees on immigration, crime, education, the collapse of FTX and economic empowerment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollow the Procurement Act and publish the details of all applicable public sector contracts,\u201d he said. \u201cThe former Public Procurement Act (PPA) of 2021 and the current PPA of 2023 both require publication of the summary details of all government contracts awarded. It also requires an annual report on all contracts \u2013\u2013 the first of which was due October 2022. It is a sign of utter contempt of the Bahamian people to openly break the law on an ongoing basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

more<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: pexels-towfiqu-barbhuiya<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bahamas Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard said the Davis administration should enact a suite of anti-corruption legislation, including a Public Anti-Corruption Act, a Public Officials Code of Conduct Act…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1091,"featured_media":29180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[250],"tags":[157,166],"class_list":["post-29959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles","tag-anti-corruption","tag-bahamas"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/pexels-towfiqu-barbhuiya-8693379-scaled-e1691084649258.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-7Nd","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21542,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/bahamas-struggling-with-the-execution-in-corruption-fight-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":29959,"position":0},"title":"Bahamas \u2018Struggling With The Execution\u2019 In Corruption Fight","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"April 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Bahamas \u00a0 The Bahamas is \u201cstruggling with the execution\u201d of anti-corruption safeguards, governance reformers are warning, with accountability and transparency \u201caspirational\u201d rather than real concepts. 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