Prime Minister Godwin Friday has signalled that his government is preparing to move from diagnosis to potential legal and administrative consequences, after receiving a comprehensive “rapid assessment” of state-owned companies in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).
The prime minister told a diaspora town hall meeting in New York on Sunday that shortly after taking office in November, his administration quietly commissioned a two-person team of Vincentian experts to examine the financial and governance health of statutory bodies and state companies.
He said the initial report covered 12 entities and has now been expanded to include the remainder of public enterprises.
“One of the first things that we did in office is we appointed, at my instructions, a rapid assessment team of two persons who are very capable Vincentians, to assess all of the public enterprises, state-owned enterprises.”
He said that the first report reached his desk roughly three months ago and the team has now completed the full rapid assessment.
“They have now completed their work. I have not seen the report yet,” Friday said, adding, “From what we have seen before of the 12 that were done, there are things there that require further investigation, and they will be investigated.”
The comments came in response to questions from members of the Vincentian diaspora about alleged corruption under the Unity Labour Party administration and what, if anything, the new government intends to do about it.
Several questioners invoked high-profile controversies, the handling of state resources and concerns that “business as usual” might simply continue under a new political banner.
However, Friday insisted that would not be the case, but emphasised that his government would move deliberately rather than theatrically.
“We have said, and I’ve said this when we were campaigning, I said in office now: we are going about the assessment as to how government has functioned in a methodical and systematic manner, not to meet any kind of timeline that somebody’s arbitrarily set,” he said.
He framed the rapid assessment as the first layer of that methodical approach — a diagnostic exercise designed to reveal patterns of mismanagement or misconduct, rather than a headline-driven search for specific individuals.
“There are things there that require further investigation,” he repeated, “and where the information and the evidence lead, we will follow.”
The prime minister’s remarks drew a clear contrast with what he characterised as a more politicised style of accountability in the past.
“You are asking a very good question,” he told one of the more confrontational questioners. “We owe you accountability. We promised accountability. We will deliver accountability. Follow the record.”
He cautioned against using public office to launch highly publicised accusations that later fizzle because they are not grounded in solid evidence.
“You’re not in a situation [where] you come and you say, ‘Okay, you’re going after this, you’re going after that, like some previous administration,’ and two or three years later, everything fizzles out because they started with the wrong premise,” he said.
Instead, the prime minister outlined a model of accountability that begins with technical review, proceeds to investigation where warranted, and only then to potential sanctions.
“We are looking for ways in which things have functioned, so that we could correct the things that went wrong, so that we can hold accountable those persons who need to be held accountable, and where the information and the evidence lead, we will follow,” Friday told the audience.
Investigation into wiped computers ongoing
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble reinforced that framing when pressed on a specific allegation relating to the New York consulate.
He had previously stated that computers in the consulate were wiped before the change of administration, and a diaspora participant asked why no one had yet been charged.
“… The computers were wiped, and we are still investigating. Everything takes time,” Bramble said.
“In response to your general question about whether this is business as usual, of course it cannot be business as usual,” the East Kingstown MP said.
“Simply because we don’t come forward with something on your timing doesn’t mean that it’s not forthcoming.”
He described the new administration as “a government of accountability” and “a government of transparency” and pledged that any discovery of corruption “will be dealt with appropriately”.