Passage of board appointment regulations important for good governance – NIA

Anti-corruption watchdog group the National Integrity Action (NIA) says the passage of new regulations governing the nomination, selection and appointment to public boards will serve to enhance good governance.

The organisation commended the Government and the Opposition for the unanimous backing of the regulations, which were passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

It notes that it has long advocated for regulations of this nature because, when implemented, they will represent a major advance in good governance and a serious blow to primarily political appointments to public bodies' boards.

Over the years and in recent times, appointments on the basis of friendship with the Minister, contributions to election campaigns or loyalty to party have been a factor in bad governance, NIA argued.

Specifically, this politicisation of boards underpins contract awards valuing billions of dollars of taxpayers' money to connected persons and other corrupt practices, it further asserted.  

The interest group charged that the vast majority of boards spending taxpayers' money remain in breach of the Public Bodies Management Accountability and Act by failing to report on a timely basis to the Cabinet, the Parliament and the people on how they are spending our money.

This dereliction, it added, continues despite directives from the Ministry of Finance to comply with the law.

The Professor Trevor Munroe-led organisation is insisting that along with the acceptance of the new regulations, boards and officials responsible for this lawless conduct be sanctioned, as provided for in the Public Bodies Management Accountability and Act.

The organisation says it is hopeful that boards chosen on the basis of competence, and not politics, as required by these regulations, will help to eliminate chronic abuses facilitating high-level corruption.

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