Opposition United Workers Party (UWP) Mobilisation Officer Nancy Charles has criticised what she described as an ineffective system of checks and balances currently affecting Saint Lucia.
During a September 18th interview on DBS Television’s “News Maker Live” with host Timothy Poleon, Charles stated that more effort is needed to hold public officials accountable for their actions while in office.
The Opposition has repeatedly accused the current administration of engaging in corrupt practices, including the mishandling of public funds, the mismanagement of the healthcare system, and questionable land sales.
Equally, the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP), now in Government, has consistently accused the former UWP administration of wrongdoing.
Nancy Charles declared that the state has made a deliberate attempt to silence those who criticize the SLP government’s practices.
“What you have is that politicians are using undue influence to prevent those, perhaps public servants from speaking out and showing that things are not being done properly” she argued.
Additionally, Charles criticised the office of Special Prosecutor Robert Innocent for its failure to present any substantive evidence of corruption, despite being in operation for over a year.
“He’s not doing anything…We have heard absolutely nothing. Not one interview, not one press release, not one item that is being investigated” the UWP Mobilisation Officer noted.
“We’ve asked for the telephone number, because as an Opposition, we do have items that we want to refer to the special prosecutor for investigation. But I am told that his office is not ready, he doesn’t have any staffing yet. I don’t know why we continue to pay somebody over a year and nothing has been put in place to ensure that those checks and balances that you talk about can be put in place” Charles added.
Despite her concerns about his performance so far, Charles believes that an elected UWP government should retain the Special Prosecutor and focus on improving the system.
“We keep the special prosecutor and allow for there to be a proper investigation by the special prosecutor into all these acts of perceived corruption that we are speaking about and then you will see what will happen” she stated
In November last year, the Government of Saint Lucia announced that the Judicial and Legal Services Commission had appointed Mr. Robert Innocent to the ‘crucial position’ of Special Prosecutor.
“This appointment underscores the Government’s unwavering commitment to addressing cases of misconduct and combating various forms of corruption by persons holding public office,” the Government announcement stated.
The Special Prosecutor has the authority to receive complaints and investigate credible reports of corrupt conduct by incumbent public officials and public officials who have demitted office.
