The Tribune

OPPOSITION leader Philip “Brave” Davis, and PLP chairman Bradley Roberts seem strangely upset at the Minnis government fulfilling an election promise made to the Bahamian people that should the FNM be entrusted with the administration of government for the next five years, an audit would be done of all government departments.

National Insurance was the first government department targeted. Quietly, several executive board members were asked to take vacation leave on full pay while the audit was being done. Although no one was accused of anything, there were immediate shouts of “rank victimisation, discrimination and intimidation” from the Davis and Roberts’ political camp.

According to Mr Roberts, Dr Minnis was breaking an election promise made during the campaign that there would be no victimisation should his party win. So far there has been no sign of anyone being victimised. The Minnis government was just fulfilling an election promise to make certain that it was not the Bahamian people who were being victimised.

But that isn’t the way party chairman Roberts viewed the situation:

“The apparent intent of the prime minister and the FNM of promoting political tribalism and divisiveness through political witch hunts is clearly not the way to build a country,” he said.

“Tribalism,” he lectured, “only promotes partisanship, that is, very strong feelings of political and social loyalty and not the accountability, transparency and public trust he claims he wants to build.”

Politicians of this ilk cannot afford to venture out on such a brittle limb, particularly if their memories are short. Davis and Roberts have only to cast their minds back a short five years to get a true picture of what vicious political tribalism is all about — particularly when administered by the PLP.

At the end of the first Christie government under the chairmanship of Labour Minister Shane Gibson, the newly elected Ingraham government found that National Insurance was in a sorry state. During the Gibson administration there was an annual deficit at NIB with many individuals and organisations not having paid their contributions in years.

The new Ingraham government knew that an efficient manager had to be brought in to right the sinking NIB ship. Feelers went out and Mr Algernon Cargill, an able administrator, was discovered in the private sector. At the time Mr Cargill had been eight years as District Manager and Country Chairman of Chevron Puerto Rico, LLC, with responsibility for sales, service, marketing, risk management and financial performance for a regional district that comprised Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Antigua, St Kitts, Dutch St Maarten and French St Martin, as well as Dominica and St Lucia.

In 2008, Mr Cargill was appointed Director of NIB. His salary and bonus was only a fraction of what he was making in the private sector. His NIB contract included his salary and his bonus. Contrary to what Shane Gibson would have had one believe at the time, Mr Cargill did not pay himself his bonus. It was written into his contract and was paid by the Board. In fact all NIB executives had bonuses. Mr Cargill’s bonus was conditional on him turning NIB around and making it a successful enterprise. He not only met all of the terms of his contract, but exceeded the goals set for him at NIB. At last NIB was a going concern. Obviously this meant that in demanding payment from all contributors, regardless of politics, he had stepped on many precious toes. This led to his fall.

What is of interest is that at that time Mr Cargill, from a traditional PLP family, was a staunch PLP. However, Prime Minister Ingraham never let party politics interfere with the hiring of a qualified Bahamian — far more than can ever be said of the PLP, which made it clear that they were only “looking out for PLPs” to whom God is meant to have given this country.

Of course, when the PLP came in they wanted Mr Cargill out. His sticking to the rule book of good administration was obviously too much for them.

Gregory Moss, at the time PLP MP for Marco City, was appointed NIB chairman. In mid-2012 shortly after his appointment, Mr Moss and Mr Cargill clashed over whether NIB should have fully taken up the Bank of Bahamas Holdings’ $10m preference shares. Mr Cargill said management recommended that NIB “not participate” in the private placement. However, Mr Moss insisted that Prime Minister Christie and several Cabinet ministers wanted NIB to purchase the full BAB offering. So said, so done.

In the end, the Christie government spent nearly $900,000 on a forensic investigation into allegations against both men.

While all of this was going on Mr Cargill’s personal financial files were illegally made public. The forensic audit carried out to prove that there had been theft on his part failed miserably, yet there was neither accounting nor explanation for the wastage of NIB funds to undertake this wild goose chase.

And while former NIB chairman Gregory Moss was busy drafting a letter to justify his arbitrary dismissal of Mr Cargill, a rather inconvenient letter arrived from Geneva notifying NIB that Mr Cargill had just received global recognition for an outstanding plan he had introduced at NIB. He was invited to give the “keynote” address on his Balance Score Card, designed to measure productivity, at a banquet to be held in Lima, Peru. While being viciously victimised at home by a group of political pygmies, the true worth of this Bahamian was receiving international recognition in South America by the International Social Security Association.

The PLP government, so intent on destroying Mr Cargill, never released the news of this international award which was quite an achievement for the Bahamas. Even today Mr Cargill still awaits payment for compensation owed him under his contract for four years of dedicated service to NIB,

In view of their rank behaviour over the years, politicians like Bradley Roberts have colossal nerve to accuse any government of “tribalism”.