The leader of the official Opposition, Philip Davis has renewed his call for Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands and National Security Minister to resign for misconduct. This comes on the heels of the decision made by Chief Magistrate Joyanne Ferguson Pratt in the Frank Smith extortion case.
Mr. Davis added that the behavior of Attorney GeneralCarl Bethel must also be reviewed.
Magistrate Joyanne Ferguson Pratt, after acquitting Smith, the former Chairman of the Public Hospitals Authority, said “the conduct of the Minister responsible for the Police agreeing to meet the complainant, Barbara Hanna, instead of directing his colleague to refer the complainant to the Commissioner of Police is unorthodox.”
Recalling these word, Mr. Davis added, “not to mention the persistent phone calls by two government Minister to the virtual complainant, who was clearly avoiding the police, the learned Magistrate recalled how the Minister of Health had been given a campaign contribution by the virtual complainant by the Minister’s own admission under oath.”, he said.
He added that Barbara Hanna had a pending application for an extremely lucrative contract before the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA).
He said, “based on the sworn evidence, the Minister of Health, Duane Sands, awarded her that very lucrative contract and not the board. The Board has concerns about the award and referred the process of the award to the internal auditor to investigate for impropriety.”
In the case of the Attorney General, Mr. Davis said that lawyers are called to act as ministers of justice before the courts.
He added that there is no doubt that the Attorney General and lead counsel for the Crown should have stopped this case before it reached the stage of no case submission.
He said, “this is certainly an issue to look into to determine whether the attention of the ethics committee of the Bar Council should be engaged.”
He added, “I call today on the Ministers to do the right thing, according to the conventions of the constitution. Failing to do so, the Prime Minister must act.”
Mr. Davis said that he believes this case says much about the Minnis-Administration’s moral and ethical character from the Prime Minister straight down to the ordinary backbencher.
He added that it appears that the party is willing to do anything to win an election.
When asked what if the ministers refuse to resign, he said, “we say if they don’t do it of of their own will, then the Prime Minister must act. If the Prime Minister does not act, then we know how to lump them all.
“Then, I have to now presume that he has been condoning what has been going on; and it may very well be that these two persons were scapegoats for him.”, he added.
The opposition leader also asked all Bahamians to take note of the way the matter was conducted and the extent to which ministers of the government were directly involved in this prosecution.
This, he said, should cause us all to pause and consider who our leaders are and the true content of their characters.
