Devon Dick LAST TUESDAY, Mr. Audley Shaw, Opposition Spokesman on Finance, in his budget presentation stated that some persons were expecting him to reveal some scandals but he would not be doing so. It does not appear as if there were no government scandal, but rather that he made the decision not to divulge what he knew. However, government corruption is not a private matter that he can decide not to reveal when he knows, what he knows.
Mr. Shaw has built a reputation as a revealer of scandals. Many civil servants are afraid of appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) because of the expected interrogation by Chairman of the PAC, Audley Shaw. Some civil servants and government functionaries have been kept on their toes because of a fear of the PAC. They have been extra cautious to ensure following proper procedure. Therefore, it is disappointing that he is treating revealing scandals as a private matter that he can decide when he will reveal it.
In fact, he may even have a responsibility to tell the police what he knows. Unfortunately, this Damascus-type decision not to declare what scandal he knows smacks of opportunism based on his company's financial problems of issuing cheques that were not honoured and losing a court battle over ownership and/or responsibility for a gas station. Before the court ruled, he claimed that it was a private matter and he would not resign as Chairman of the PAC. Shaw should have used the budget debate to express regret or resign as PAC chairman and continue to reveal any hanky panky that the government is involved in. Shaw's budget statement gives an indication that he will not continue to be as thorough at the PAC.
A court case is not a private matter. Mr. Shaw's business and it's financial problems became public when it came before the court. Court matters are not private though the judge might rule, in protection of a victim or minor, to have it behind closed doors. Mr. Shaw and his company are neither minors nor victims.
For a thing to be private it has to involve one person. A secret is private as long as only one person knows about it. If the secret is shared with someone else then it is no longer private but can be personal or public.
Persons continue to hide behind 'private matter' when it is convenient. Nude weddings is another such instance. Organisers of nude weddings claim that they are private. How can it be private when a wedding is a public event and nudity in a public place and at a public event is illegal? A wedding must have witnesses to be legal and while one can be barred from a couple's wedding reception one cannot be barred from viewing a wedding ceremony. So the conduct of Mr. Shaw's company's business is not a private matter. Would Mr. Shaw consider the action of a school's failure to pay the fees for 150 students to the GCE Examiners Council private? The students have paid the money to the school but they have not done the same to GCE office. How will these students manage? Is that a private matter? The society and government should get involved!
MISSED OPPORTINUTY
Mr. Shaw missed an opportunity to apologise, appear repentant or resign. There has been enough precedent and it has not caused the end of those persons' political careers. The Most Honourable Prime Minister, then Deputy Prime Minister, resigned from Cabinet because of the Shell waiver issue. The Leader of the Opposition said he would not accept the post of Prime Minister while his financial problems have not been sorted out. The Minister of Finance and Planning apologised for his comment about 'run with it'. The Minister of Technology offered his resignation to the Prime Minister because of his 'youthful exuberance' in mishandling IT funds and a former Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance resigned because he used bad cheques to clear gambling debts.
Mr. Shaw should have done the honourable thing and said something or done something about his company's financial contretemps. This new stance of not revealing government corruption is not a private matter. Neither is the way Mr. Shaw handles fiduciary matters, private. These are not private matters.
The Rev Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church.
