Ex top cop payoff to be buried in 2014/15 budget
(CNS): Although the settlement between government and the former police commissioner who was sacked during the controversial Operation Tempura internal police probe is currently a state secret, the parliament’s finance committee may be able to shed light on the amount next month. According to officials from the ministry of home affairs the payment to Stuart Kernohan will be coming from the 2014/15 budget set to be before the legislative committee in May. This means the cash will be buried somewhere in a line item and questioning by MLAs during the usual probe over the allocation of public funds may help determine how much more the tax payer has been force to cough up as a result of the bungled investigation.
CNS Filed an FOI request about the budgeting for the payment which was announced at the end of last month and as a result of the home affairs ministry not holding documents they confirmed via email that the money would be paid from the forth coming 2014/15 budget.
As a result the pay-off, which is estimated at around $600,000, far less than original speculation that it was in the millions, will be part of a line item entry in the home affairs ministry’s budget and savvy MLAs should be able to detect the approximate amount. While it may be combined with other payments questioning of the premier, who is the minister for home affairs and his chief office Eric Bush may lead to a reasonable guess on how much the public purse stumped up for the mistakes of the former governor, Stuart Jack as well as others associated with the discredited internal RCIPS probe.
Kernohan, a British national, was sacked while suspended from duty, when he refused to return to the Cayman Islands having gone back to the UK as a result of his late father’s then ill-health. Kernohan refused based on a catalogue of reasons relating to how the investigation was being conducted and what have since emerged as serious flaws in communication between the parties which still remain in contention.
The main issue surrounds Kernohan’s insisted that the his entry into Cayman Net News to look for evidence of alleged corruption between the late proprietor Desmond Seals and a high ranking police officer, by two reporters on the paper in collusion with the RCIPS, was authorized by the governor at the time, Stuart Jack as well as the overseas security advisor Larry Covington and the attorney general, Samuel Bulgin.
Kernohan has always stated that he had documentary evidence of this though it has been denied by the FCO officials.
Category: FOI
Just one point – we never found out what Rudi Dixon's settlement was did we?
Whatever Kernohan got paid I'll bet the lawyers got more.
"State secret"??!!
It is appalling and beyond disgraceful that our government would design to keep secret any payment coming out of public coffers. This is hard-earned money that came out of our purses!
Government must be held accountable for every last cent of ours they spend. The right of the people of the Cayman Islands to know how our money is being spent must not endure the insult of any payment being kept a secret.
The payment to Stuart Kernohan should not be purposely hidden in a line item to be ferreted out by the opposition: public spending should be among the most transparent facets of our government. We must demand that Alden makes this payment a plain straight forward entry in the budget.
The budget line should read something to the effect of: "Settlement Payment to Stuart Kernohan". Anything less forthright is an affront to all Caymanians whose hard-earned money went into this payment. We should not have to speculate and depend on rumours to determine how and for what our dollars are being spent.
We must demand that Finance Committee not approve the budget until this payment is clearly and properly reported to the people of the Cayman Islands.
CNS, unfortunately, in a couple months, you will be running a story saying they couldn't find it. As cunning as Mr. Miller thinks he is, I gurantee you he will not be able to bring it out in Finance Committee
What's the point of covering up any of this any longer ?
Its all out there now, from one source or another.
Kenrnohan and Martin Bridger have made exactly the same claims and accusations and…
Kernohan's been paid off.
Doesn't that tell its own story ?
Sorry Marco, there goes the surplus.
Why are they hiding the facts when it is our money? We have the right to know how it is wasted
But, but, Ellio said it was Five Million Dollars! And I believed him (stupid me), because he’s the voice of reason (not) and propaganda (true). Thank you for letting us know, CNS.
leave Ellio alone he is enjoying he sef on de show wid Austin ole frien Gilly.
Well so much for the promise of Transparency from this ppm lot. Cabinet approved the funds for the settlement but now refuse to tell us the amount. Disgraceful behavior from a government in denial and out of touch with the people.