As the fallout from Bernie Bush’s removal as minister of home affairs continues, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson has confirmed a resignation letter from acting Chief Officer Michael Ebanks prompted the sanctioning of the West Bay North MP.
Manderson, in response to Cayman Compass queries about whether Ebanks’ resignation was connected in any way to Bush being stripped of his ministerial role, confirmed that matters raised in Ebanks’ resignation letter had been reported to the premier, who subsequently removed Bush as home affairs minister.
The deputy governor said Ebanks wrote to him on 6 April, requesting that he be relieved of his responsibilities as chief officer earlier than his planned departure at end of May.
He asked that his departure date be brought forward to 6 May, and set out “clear reasons for his decision which merited the attention of the Premier who then took action. Mr. Ebanks is currently on vacation leave,” Manderson said in an emailed response.
Ebanks is scheduled to return from leave on 25 April.
Ebanks’ resignation letter has not been released.
Panton, in a statement on Sunday, announced that Bush had been stripped of the Home Affairs ministry and sent him on two weeks’ unpaid leave, commencing 18 April after “infringements of Section 55 of the Constitution and breaches to two sections of the Ministerial Code of Conduct”.
Bush, in an interview with Cayman News Service last week, stated that he had put a stop to what he described as ‘unacceptable bonuses’ being paid to fire chief Paul Walker to train Caymanians.
The responsibility for civil service matters, under the Constitution, lies with the governor, but has been delegated to the deputy governor as head of the Civil Service.
Bush, in Sunday’s statement, accepted his censure and apologised.
He retains his Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage portfolio.
On Tuesday, East End MP Isaac Rankine was sworn in as acting minister for that portfolio for a period of three weeks. A government spokesperson has told the Compass that this three-week period covers two weeks during which Bush has been suspended, and one week while he is “off on official business”.
In his emailed statement, Manderson said that Ebanks had advised him in January this year that he intended to leave the Cayman Islands Government to relocate with his family overseas, with his last day in office being 31 May.
However, that changed last week when he requested his resignation date be moved up.
Health Minister Sabrina Turner, on Tuesday, received her amended instrument of appointment from Governor Martyn Roper adding the Home Affairs portfolio to her responsibility.
Manderson said Julian Lewis has now been appointed to replace Ebanks as chief officer.
“I will make a decision on who will take over from Mr. Ebanks in the long term and will make an announcement at that time. I thank Mr. Ebanks for his excellent service. He is an outstanding Caymanian who has been a role model to many,” Manderson added.
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This is very interesting.
In the UK a government minister is nominally in charge of their department and in theory can fire staff.
It seems that here in Cayman that a government minister can’t even criticize their staff. What powers do they actually have?
My question is whether or not paying such fees to the Fire Chief for training Caymanians is illegal or not. A simple look at his contract would determine if he was allowed extra money to train his local staff.