Integrity commission ceases to exists; fifth commissioner to quit: Report

The Integrity Commission that President Max Richards appointed on May 1 before taking off on vacation no longer exists. The fourth commissioner quit Friday, exactly one week after Richards administered the oaths of office.

Chartered accountant Lylla Bada, 66, handed in letters of resignation to the commission and to the Office of the President and told the Newsday newspaper that she was quitting "for personal reasons" without elaborating on the specifics.

The paper said she didn't wish to comment further or say whether the controversy that has surrounded the commission from its inception prompted her resignation, saying that she is "a private person".

And Newsday is reporting that the last commissioner - former Industrial Court vice-president Gladys Gafoor - will hand in her resignation Monday, making the commission non-existent.

Newsday said in its Sunday edition that Gafoor had previously said she was not going to resign although Fr Henry Charles' departure as chairman left the commission without a quorum.

The five-member commission was barely a day old when it was hit by controversy. Shortly after the sweariong in on May 1, retired appeal court justice Zainool Hosein resigned in disgust over the president's abrupt decision to renege on a commitment and appoint Jeffrey McFarlane as deputy chairman.

Hosein said up to the day before the president had told him that he, Hosein, would be deputy chairman. McFarlane himself admitted that he didn't know about the change until moments before he took the oath.

Then McFarlane came under fire as being unqualified for the post because under the rules governing the Intergrity in Public Life Act he could not sit on the commission due to his roles as the Executive Director of the National Insurance Board (NIB) and a member of other statutory boards. He eventually quit on Wednesday.

Read the story: McFarlane quits...
Related: Integrity Commission chairman quits

It got worse on Thursday when the chairman also resigned. Fr Henry Charles explained that he reconsidered his position and decided to quit because the Roman Catholic Church law forbids him from serving on a civil authority.

That was an issue raised with the Archbishop of Port of Spain on Tuesday by Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner who wanted to know whether Henry's appointment was a breach of Canon law.

This is the second time this year that the country is without an Integrity Commission. The other members of the commission resigned en masse on February 5 after a High Court judge ruled that the commission acted in bad faith in its handling of an investigation into the affairs of former cabinet minister Dr Keith Rowley.

Read the story: T&T Integrity Commission quits

Immediately after mass resignations in February opposition leader Basdeo Panday called for a review of all previous decisions of the commission over the past eight years to see if other decisions were also tainted.

"Several matters questioning the conduct and activities of government official, including five ministers, were referred to the Integrity Commission over the past few years. In many instances the Commission has quickly and almost effortlessly cleared these persons or the complaints have slipped into some black hole," Panday said.

Read the story: Panday challenges Integrity Commission