Last week Wednesday we told you about that fiery Senate meeting in which the Integrity Commission was appointed, among much other government business.
This is supposed to be the watchdog keeping elected politicians honest while they are in office. But, even before the Commission starts doing its work, the members are already embroiled in controversy. The complaint is that all the Prime Minister's appointees, who were approved by the Senate last week, are UDP friendly, or outright UDP allies. So, their objectivity is being questioned given that they are part of the mechanism set in place to curb corruption within the UDP Government.
Nestor Vasquez, the Integrity Commission's accountant, has come under particular scrutiny because it was revealed that up until last week, he was not a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in good standing. Added to that is the fact is that the Prime Minister chose him over another accountant named by the Institute. The Opposition is now on a full court press against Vasquez, and their lead Senator Eamon Courtenay has written to Godwin Hulse, the Senate's Leader of Government Business.
In his letter dated, December 5, Courtenay wrote, quote, "Mr. Vasquez submitted an expired Certificate of Membership of the Institute. Simply put, Mr. Vasquez was not qualified to be a member of the Commission because on the 30th of November, 2016, the date when the Senate approved his appointment… he was not a member of the Institute." End quote.
Courtenay's letter continues, "Not only was the Senate misled, it gave its approval to a legal nullity. It is important that you take steps to rescind the approval as a matter of urgency. Please confirm urgently that you intend to put matters right."
This afternoon, our colleagues from KREM News caught up with him at the Supreme Court, and they asked him about the letter. Here's what he had to say:
Eamon Courtenay, PUP Senator
"The certificate is from 1985. I wrongly assumed that what that certificate was saying was that Mr. Vasquez was a member of the institute from 1985 and continuing up until now. The resolution itself says that Mr. Vasquez is a member of the institute. As we all know the resolution was false and the certificate was expired and so I have indicated to the leader of government business in the senate that as a result of the resolution that he has moved, he has misled the senate. Certainly, he had misled me and I believe other members of the senate took the resolution for what it stated."
"Now, it would seem to me that the evidence is very clear that Mr. Vasquez is not a member of the institute and subsection 3 of the prevention of corruption act says that you must be a member of the institute to be in the integrity commission. Mr. Vasquez clearly does not qualify."
"I suggested to the leader of government business that he should take steps to correct the situation. If I don't hear from him I have been authorized by my party to file a motion in the senate, which I intend to do tomorrow if I don't hear from Senator Hulse rescinding the approval which was fraudulently obtained from the senate."
"The point of the matter is why is the government of Belize insisting that Mr. Vasquez be the member on a commission that ought to enjoy the confidence of the Belizean people and the confidence of people who are going to be making filings before him. He is unqualified from the word get-go. Yet the government is pursuing a fraudulent appointment, a fraudulent approval - they lied to us and yet they want us to believe that is above board. It is not above board. It is crude politics, it is illegality and Mr. Vasquez, a man who have I known for many years ought not to allow himself to be used as a pawn in this game. Something is radically wrong when the government of Belize seeks the intervention of the chamber of commerce and the institute of chartered accountants, to come up with a name. They go through the process, come up with a name and before the senate meets to do their approval, the name is put forward and it is rejected by the government. It shows that this government is on a political appointment of an integrity commission. It is just simply wrong."
This evening Nestor Vasquez sent us a letter from the Institute of Chartered Accountants dated today's date. It says, quote, "Thank you for updating your status with the ICAB. We hereby confirm your status as a non-practicing member of ICAB in good standing. A renewal notice will be issued in January 2017." End quote.
Vasquez ceased active accounting practice when he took up the job as Executive Chairman of BTL in 2009.
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