MPs must account for spending of public funds
Bahamas
The government is raising the constituencies capital grant in the upcoming fiscal year from $100,000 per constituency to $150,000.
It is also increasing the monthly constituency allowances from $2,500 to $3,500. The allowances are made to keep constituency offices operational.
The capital grant is allocated for each MP to undertake various projects in his or her constituency.
All grants payable under the Constituency Capital Grant Act are paid out of the Consolidated Fund.
The law permits the MP to determine which capital development projects are necessary in his or her constituency.
Each MP is mandated to keep proper accounts and reports and the auditor general is required to audit such accounts at the end of each fiscal year.
When he contributed to the budget debate in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, who is the MP for Fox Hill and also chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party, sought to make a case for why MPs should be getting way more than $150,000.
Mitchell said, “Members of Parliament have a very important job to do in trying to keep the government connected to the people who they govern, but also in making sure that the peace is kept in their communities and also making sure that the infrastructure in their communities is up to standard and up to scratch.
“And the citizens of the country, in terms of the level of public education, see no distinction, it appears, between public monies and your own personal monies.
“The attitude is that the MP can go in their pocket and fix it … but that’s not the case. Most of us are men and women of ordinary means and you have to apply yourself in the judicious use of public funds to meet the greater demands of the Bahamian public.”
He said if it were up to him, MPs would each have $1 million in the budget to carry out work in their constituency.
But why should that be supported in the absence of full transparency on how MPs are today spending the $100,000 they are allocated every year for constituency projects or the $30,000 they are allocated to keep their constituency offices open.
Are MPs segregating funds or are they treating the accounts into which these funds are sent as accounts also for their private interests?
Are the contracts awarded to carry out the works in their constituencies going to tender or are they handpicking who gets those contracts?
Though MPs are required to make quarterly reports to the finance ministry on how their funds are spent, the public is in the dark on how these allocations are being spent. We have not seen any audit that shows that the allocations are being used as intended and while Mitchell advocates for a portion of the Ministry of Works’ budget to also be transferred for MPs to spend, we do not hear anyone advocating for accountability and transparency regarding current expenditures.
The pubic is also still largely in the dark on contracts entered into by the Davis administration since it came to office.
In February, Prime Minister Philip Davis, who is the minister of finance, insisted his administration is transparent and accountable and said the Ministry of Finance in conjunction with Go Bondfire e-procurement platform is finalizing a report on contracts awarded by his administration since coming to office in September 2021, and will aim to have the first edition published “in due course”.
Four months later, the promised information has still not been published. When we contacted the financial secretary yesterday, he said only the list is being finalized.
In February, the prime minister also said in the House of Assembly he has not tabled a report on pandemic spending as required by law because the information needed for the report just is not there.
We don’t expect the government will ever follow the law in this regard.
Before any MP fixes his mouth to call for an even larger capital grant or constituency allowance, the public ought to have access to a full accounting on monies already being spent.
When it comes to public money, parliamentarians must stop acting as if they are spending their own funds.
There is no “new day” approach to accounting in this regard.
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