The alleged disappearance of Ministry of Tourism, Environment, Development and Commerce files shortly after the resignation of then Permanent Secretary Charles Clifford in July 2004 was a topic of debate in the Legislative Assembly recently.
Mr. Clifford first raised the issue when he rose to contribute to the debate on a Private Member’s Motion calling for anti-corruption legislation brought by Leader of the Opposition McKeeva Bush.
Speaking before Mr. Bush had his reply to the debate, Mr. Clifford anticipated the topic would be mentioned.
Mr. Clifford admitted he had been the subject of allegations concerning the missing files made by the previous United Democratic Party administration and in particular Mr. Bush.
‘I was out there and all sorts of accusations were being made about me removing files and stealing files out of the Ministry, and I even heard the Leader of the Opposition at one public meeting in West Bay really get carried away. He said, ‘Yes, he took the whole credenza out of the office,’ and then he went on to say, ‘In fact, he took the whole office’.’
Mr. Clifford said he wrote to then Governor Bruce Dinwiddy and asked him to carry out an immediate investigation into the allegations of the missing files and to make the findings public.
‘I was happy that before the election I was able to get a response from the governor who informed me that he had carried out an investigation and that not only were the allegations false and no files were missing from the Ministry, but that one of the files that the Leader of the Opposition claimed was missing did not even exist and this was laid out in a letter from Mr. Dinwiddy.’
Mr. Clifford said he presented that letter to the public in a live-televised public meeting held in North Side.
In his reply, Mr. Bush questioned how Mr. Dinwiddy could have written such a letter.
‘I do not see how that could happen, but maybe it is true,’ Mr. Bush said. ‘I never did put anything past Dinwiddy.’
Mr. Bush said he had provided Chief Secretary George McCarthy with a written affidavit from a ministry staff member stating that filed had been taken out of the ministry. He said Mr. Dinwiddy had told the ministry, through Mr. McCarthy, that someone from the UK would undertake an investigation into the matter. However, the election happened and the investigation never happened.
Mr. Bush read from the written affidavit, which said was from a ministry staff member. A copy of that affidavit was provided to the Caymanian Compass afterwards on the condition the name of the writer was not revealed.
Only part of the affidavit was read in the House by Mr. Bush.
‘It says: ‘At the time when I was secretary to [Permanent Secretary Charles Clifford] I can confirm that the files within the credenza contained various minutes, copies of Executive Council extracts and other copies of correspondence.
‘From time to time when correspondence was given to the PS, for example, extracts from Cabinet, he would ask me to make a copy and I would observe him putting the correspondence in the credenza in the subject file it pertained to.
‘In my humble opinion, the files within the credenza were not personal files. They contained office correspondence as a result of him being appointed on the various boards and committees in his capacity as PS for the Ministry of Tourism.’
Mr. Bush said the affidavit explained that the credenza was found empty on Monday [after Mr. Clifford resigned].
‘She goes on to say that the records on the computer showed that Mr. Clifford logged on at 8:00 and logged him out at 11 pm on Saturday 31 July, [his] last day as a civil servant.’
Mr. Bush also read from a memorandum dated 15 February, 2005, he sent to Governor Dinwiddy. In that memorandum, Mr. Bush said Computer Service’s records had shown Mr. Clifford had loaded his computer’s files onto floppy disks and then wiped the files clean.
Mr. Bush complained to Mr. Dinwiddy in the memorandum that an inquiry had been conducted into the alleged missing papers with no reference to himself or Mr. Clifford’s personal secretary at the ministry.
The question of whether the missing files were of a personal nature was brought up in the memorandum from Mr. Bush.
‘I am of the opinion that information gleaned in the course of one’s employment as a public servant, whether it is information obtained as a member of a board or otherwise, is not the employee’s personal property, but the property of his employer,’ the memorandum stated.
The Private Member’s Motion brought by Mr. Bush included a resolve ‘to ensure that certain civil/public servants such as chief officers (permanent secretaries) cannot run for a general election until at least one year after leaving the service’. When introducing the motion, Mr. Bush said chief officers have access to confidential information that could be used to damage the reputation of their ministers.
He commented on the issue again in his reply.
‘We can see and we have seen what can happen when a senior civil servant such as the permanent secretary leaves the services in short order to seek political office or set themselves up for a seat while still a civil servant because [he or she has] designs on the seat of the minister they should be assisting,’ Mr. Bush said.
‘This has led to such a person using sensitive information from his time in civil service… to give it to the press and use it to gain political office. We know, and I know firsthand, because of what my permanent secretary did, the one who is now in the House, the one who is now the Minister of Tourism.’
Given an opportunity to respond to Mr. Bush’s reply in the House, Mr. Clifford said the accusations were false.
‘There were no ministry files in my office when I was permanent secretary,’ he said. ‘The files, which I maintained in my office, were my personal files with copies of minutes of board meetings, which I participated in as a director.’
Mr. Clifford said directors were entitled to retain copies of minutes of meetings they participated in.
‘These were my personal files and I took them with me when I resigned and I said that publicly in 2004 after my resignation. Separate ministry files are maintained for each subject in the ministry as the official files/records for those subjects, which includes copies of board minutes.
Mr. Clifford also commented on the affidavit from which Mr. Bush read.
‘I am aware that Mr. Bush tried to intimidate every staff member in the Ministry at the time into signing affidavits stating that I had removed Ministry files. The intimidation was so bad at the time that some staff members sought legal advice.’
Mr. Clifford said he was happy to supply the Caymanian Compass with a copy of Mr. Dinwiddy’s letter to him. However, since he was on his way to the groundbreaking ceremony for the Frank Sound High School, he was unable to do so before press time.
Mr. Clifford
Mr. Bush
Mr. McCarthy
Mr. Dinwiddy
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