By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

SEVEN months after Parliament passed the Independent Commission of Investigations Bill, the government has yet to explain how the law will be enforced or when the new body will be established, fuelling calls for transparency as only $30,000 was allocated for the commission in the budget, and no timetable has been disclosed.

The commission bill, passed after a US federal indictment alleged corruption among Bahamian law enforcement, is intended to place probes of serious misconduct by security forces and public officials under one independent authority. While officials promoted the bill as a comprehensive anti-corruption tool, its implementation remains opaque. Attorney General Ryan Pinder did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Free National Movement chairman Dr Duane Sands said he was unsurprised by the silence, calling the move another broken promise and criticising the “paltry” budget line. He said he doubts any funds have been spent because “the truth is not in them.” He added: “Obviously we’ve seen this with Freedom of Information. We’ve seen this with promises to transparency as it relates to the Bermuda trip. We’ve seen it as it relates to ‘Oh, we’re going to turn over every stone’ as it relates to the indictment of senior officers, and we could go on and on.”

Matt Aubry, executive director of the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG), urged greater visibility into the set-up process, warning that vague timelines and limited funding undermine the law’s purpose. “When you don’t see them coming to full enactment, or they don’t get sufficient funding, or there’s no clarity on how they will be developed, then you aren’t going to get the benefits, the supposedly intended benefits,” he said. He added that until the commission is fully implemented, public confidence in anti-corruption efforts will remain weak.

Critics say the administration has deprioritised good-governance measures, routinely underfunding the Freedom of Information Unit and the Office of the Ombudsman — another institution intended to protect citizens’ rights and hold agencies to account — and falling short of best practices under the Public Procurement Act.