Britain Has a Legal (or “Superior”) Responsibility to Fix the TCI

Published 19 June 2008

Why have government officials in the Turks and Caicos Islands seemed so indifferent to corruption, and so immune from prosecution? That’s the question I’ve fielded from UK and American colleagues for years, especially as clear and convincing evidence of mismanagement and self-dealing piled up, while Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) did nothing to curb the rot.

Incredibly, FCO Minister Meg Munn once claimed her department wasn’t aware of any misconduct serious enough to investigate, let alone prosecute. This statement shocked the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC), which was then reviewing FCO oversight in the TCI. As a committee member put it, he was “shocked and appalled” at such neglect — a sentiment our entire country shared.

My consistent position — echoed in an open letter to then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown — has been clear: Outrage alone isn’t enough to stop corruption. The TCI needed a full commission of inquiry, empowered to subpoena, investigate, and recover stolen public funds.

Only a commission could pierce the financial dealings and Crown land transfers that enabled Premier Michael Misick and his cabinet to rule like classic African kleptocrats.

The FAC’s forthcoming report may, just may, recommend such a commission. But even if it doesn’t, new anti-corruption “measures” would simply be the fox locking the henhouse after the slaughter.

Meanwhile, TCI leaders responded to criticism with blame and deflection. Misick, during a budget debate, accused me of bankrupting the country with “bad press.” Deputy Premier Floyd Hall went so far as to claim that reporting on corruption was unpatriotic and damaging to foreign investment.

But those fixated on the critics should recall my own criticism of the British. Their persistent negligence made them complicit in the TCI’s decline. As highlighted in my earlier FAC commentary, Britain bears contingent liability — morally and financially — for the country’s falling fortunes and squandered opportunities.

I’ve long argued that Britain’s failure to exercise proper oversight created this mess. No amount of “new measures” can erase that record. As I wrote back then:

Whatever the extent of their ill-gotten gains, however, it shall redound to British officials’ liability and shame that they have allowed TCI officials to perpetrate such brazen fraud and abuse.

This was underscored in December 2007, when MP Ian Davidson questioned the UK’s risk of “reputational damage but also of financial liabilities” if TCI’s weak regulation led to lawsuits.

Adding to the irony, Premier Misick cynically insisted there could be no corruption, since the British governor signed off on everything. The implication was clear: British indifference was not just enabling, but actively facilitating, local misconduct.

Indeed, I’ve argued that throwing Premier Misick overboard is necessary to save the TCI.  That Governor Richard Tauwhare’s failure to intervene amounted to complicity. And that no premier could have pulled off such misdeeds without at least tacit approval from the highest office in the territory.

The bottom line: for the benefit of both the TCI and Britain, a public and transparent inquiry into all corruption allegations is essential.

On environmental matters, I share the outrage at how this government has treated national parks and reefs as little more than assets to auction off to the highest foreign bidder.

But let’s be honest: the British have stood by and condoned it all, from catastrophic dredging for billionaire playgrounds to ill-advised resort development on Salt Cay. Their conservation rhetoric abroad means nothing when it comes to the realities in the TCI.

The only way to halt this parade of abuses — fiscal and environmental — is regime change through real accountability. That starts with a serious, empowered commission of inquiry.

And if the British won’t act decisively, we should make it clear: they will be held liable, politically, legally, and financially, for the continued plunder of our public treasury and natural heritage.

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