Last year’s “Son of the Soil” crises - which involved surprise office moves and the abusive arrest of the Auditor General as well as several very expensive trips to the Privy Council in an attempt to muzzle the press - were an attempt to shift the attention from what the BHC investigation contained onto other subjects.
It was political skullduggery at its worst. When the PLP was the Opposition, Frederick Wade called Larry Dennis “the Opposition’s civil servant” in praise of his keeping the UBP’s feet to the flame. My how opinions change when power shifts to their side.
The Auditor General has now commented on the affair in his Annual Report, in which he accuses Government Leaders as well as the Police Commissioner in engaging in political cover up and character assassination.
Remember the whole accusation that the BHC files were stolen? Well, not so much:
My information is that those highly confidential files were left unattended in an unsecured public throughway for four to six weeks where any Police officer or hired cleaner would have had unimpeded access to them.
Not only did the Police know this, he says, they knew who had supplied copies of the files to him. Many in the community find the Police’s actions worrisome, as they question the impartiality of law enforcement.
The independence of Bermuda’s Auditor General must be strengthened immediately. Why? If it’s good enough for the Ombudsman, it’s good enough for OAG which is the public financial watchdog.
- The Auditor’s report continues to find very poor financial controls in the Bermuda Government; this becomes more harmful to Bermuda as the public sector budget grows.
- Weaknesses in Government’s contracting procedures are multiplying the chances for problems ranging from waste to the “unethical but not illegal” to the blatantly crooked.
- This intimidation of the Auditor has been noticed in the international business community. They shake their heads in disbelief. Places that aspire to be The Gold Standard™ don’t pull crap like this.
It is my position that anyone that opposes strengthening the audit role has something to hide.
