Golding Campbell joins call to remove auditor general from IC

CHAIRMAN OF the Integrity Commission (IC), retired Justice Seymour Panton, yesterday came into the cross hairs of Government Senator Sherene Golding Campbell as she voiced strong support for a proposal by parliamentarian Everald Warmington that the auditor general be removed as an IC commissioner.

In a strongly worded chairman’s report contained in the 2022-23 annual report, Justice Panton stated emphatically that he was against any plan by the parliamentary committee to remove Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis as a commissioner of the entity.

But Golding Campbell, while making her first contribution to the State of the Nation debate during the sitting of the Senate, argued that the auditor general’s appointment on the committee was a conflict of interest.

“In February 2023, member from South West St Catherine Everald Warmington submitted to the list of proposals to the joint select committee, one of which is to amend the list of persons that can be appointed as commissioners by removing from that list, the office of the auditor general,” Golding Campbell declared.

“Much ado has been made of the proposal that the office of the auditor general be removed from the bodies eligible for appointment as commissioners of the Integrity Commission. For those who oppose the proposal, I have not heard a single substantive reason why the proposal is unworthy of consideration,” the senator continued.

“The chairman of the Integrity Commission published his remarks as part of the 2022-23 report of the annual report of the Integrity Commission and he said this, ‘It seems that at the top of the parliamentary committee’s agenda is a removal of a key member of the commission, the auditor general. It is surprising to me, the other commissioners and the staff of the commission and to members of the public who are concerned about the general perception of corruption in our beautiful country,” she said.

“He went on, ‘I am stating emphatically and for the record and for posterity that I am against this proposal as it will only weaken the commission. The auditor general has been a fixture on the body set up to monitor the behaviour of public officials in their public roles. That has been the position for approximately 50 years’.”

Continuing to read from the report, Golding Campbell said, “’I am not aware of anything that has happened since 2017 to warrant the removal of the auditor general. In fact, from what I have seen, there is clear reason for the auditor general to be in the commission’.”

‘REMARKS UNHELPFUL’

Senator Golding Campbell made it very clear that she strongly supported Warmington’s proposal and was not at all impressed by the arguments advanced by Justice Panton.

“I find these remarks unhelpful, Mr President, in the context of critically analysing whether the auditor general is appropriately placed as a member of the commission. Unfortunately, the learned chairman has provided no basis for his conclusion that there is clear reason for the auditor general to sit as a member of the commission and so his remarks have not assisted my analysis,” she stated.

“We cannot refuse to review our institutions because we choose to rely on an unmeritorious and an incalcitrant position that because it has always been done so for years, then it must continue. That can’t be the basis on which we refuse to review,” she further argued.

Senator Golding Campbell, who is an attorney-at-law, went on to point out that the auditor general was never intended to be a participant in the running of public bodies, ministries, departments, agencies or any entity that has jurisdiction over public funds or functions.

“The auditor general is a reviewer. She is our examiner. She is our check and our balance. She is the body that is constitutionally mandated and empowered to ensure that public entities with conduct of public affairs and funds are discharging their duties appropriately, ethically and within the bounds of the law. That means, Mr President, she has responsibility for the Integrity Commission as well. In the current circumstance where she sits as a commissioner, she’s hindered in doing that. In effect, what we have done by including her as an Integrity Commissioner is to place her in an unenviable position of conflict with her constitutional and statutory duties,” Golding Campbell said.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com