Charity ﾖ in the ultimate analysis ﾖ should begin at home, and end abroad. This came to mind as we listened to a litany of woes concerning the state of the judiciary.
Last evening, on Jones &Co. , the attentive public got an earful from Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall, as he traced the outlines of the disaster which has engulfed the Judiciary.
While we were perturbed by what we heard , we were not surprised. Similar horror stories were told in times past by the likes of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Public Service, the Hon. Fred Mitchell and his fellow Cabinet colleague the Hon. Alfred Sears. On the campaign trail and in their bid for power, glory and position, both men routinely excoriated the government of the day, for its delinquency and neglect of the judiciary. The attentive public was given any number of instant constitutional lectures about the separation of powers and the spirit of the laws.
That was so in times past. In their latest incarnations neither man says much or does much to fix things they said were in need of urgent repair. Instead, they are both off on a junket to Haiti. Apparently oblivious to the irony in what they are doing, Prime Minister Perry Christie, an entourage of Cabinet Ministers, senior civil servant and a gaggle of hangers-on , were this weekend embarked on a mission to Haiti. Their ostensible purpose is that of trying to bring wisdom and sanity to bear on what it is at an ongoing nightmare.
The job upon which the prime minister and his ministers of foreign affairs and education are embarked, has baffled greater than them for all of the twentieth century. Here our reference is to the mess that has been made of the Republic of Haiti, from the moment of its conception. Without at all wishing to ﾑto put mouthﾴ on their venture, our view is that they are spending far too much time and money on any number of matters, which should be dealt with by their authors.
This is not to say that the government of the Bahamas should not play its part in trying to solve matters germane to the growth and development of the Caribbean, but is to argue that there are Bahamian issues which are being shuffled off to the side, as if addressing them could be left to another day.
Take for example the sorry state of the judicial branch of government. There is widespread agreement that it is in a mess; the courts have been neglected; the Attorney Generalﾴs office in disarray; and more generally speaking, that Bahamians are being denied their rights. This is the necessary conclusion which flows from the admission and concession that the judiciary has been allowed to drop to pieces.
What makes the current situation supremely ironic is that Ministers Frederick A. Mitchell and Alfred Sears cut their political teeth on any number of allegations, tirades and thesis about the state of the judiciary, prior to their arrival on the scene. Well, lo and behold, in office, the public is being regarded with what appears to be warmed over excuses, tired relationships and a porridge of promises. And as for real action, they are both off on a futile peace junket to the Republic of Haiti.
In the meantime, Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall is on record detailing the extent to which deterioration has set in for the judicial branch of government! This egregious wrong must be righted sooner rather than later.
Our counsel and caution to this administration, is that it should take care lest it alienate those right-thinking Bahamians who chose them, because of the track record they made for themselves while on their ten year trek to victory. Two current ministers, Mitchell and Sears, were leading luminaries during those years. Both ﾖ rightly or wrongly ﾖ were widely perceived as intellectually gifted leaders. The same people who were so persuaded, can as equally come to the conclusion that they were deceived.
While there may be some justification for Mr. Mitchell to be on the move to Haiti, or any number of other countries, the public is today stumped as it tries to figure out the moves of the Attorney General and Minister of Education Alfred Sears. He should be where his two heavy portfolios demand, at one of his two desks doing the work for which he is being paid. Which brings us back to the sorry state of the judiciary and education. Of all areas of government, these are so crucial in the ordinary run of things, that we seriously question the thinking behind having this minister on the junket to Haiti.
In the best of circumstances, the foreign affairs job should be handled by the appropriate minister. This is the Hon. Fred Mitchell, who seems quite equipped to discharge the duties in that aspect of his twin portfolio: foreign affairs and public service. But even here ﾖ if we wished to be acerbic or hypercritical ﾖ this minister could be criticised for being in over his head, granted the extent of the challenge faced by the Bahamian people in both areas.
The essence of the matter, then, is that the Prime Minister should make it his business, to get on with the business he was elected to do, which is to govern the Bahamas. And this, for sure, includes seeing to it that relations between the Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and Press are put on firmer foundations. Since each must function well if the others are to fulfill their purpose under the law, Prime Minister Christie should see to it that he and his colleagues, do what they have been elected to do, which is to serve the Bahamian people.
In the instance of the Haitian venture upon which they are currently embarked, it is anybodyﾴs guess if anything real or good will come of it. They would do well to spend some of their valuable time and this countryﾴs limited finances on dealing with issues of immediate concern to Bahamians. The likes of Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall, Bar Council President Wayne Munroe and the tens of thousands of Bahamians who come seeking education, safety, housing or justice, among other entitlements, need to know that their interests are being met. As citizens of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, they deserve no less.
Editor, The Bahama Journal
