Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KINGSTON1585
2007-10-24 19:12:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kingston
Cable title:  

JAMAICA: APPOINTMENT OF WELL KNOWN ANTI-CORRUPTION

Tags:  SNAR PREL ASEC TRSY JM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0006
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKG #1585 2971912
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241912Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5501
C O N F I D E N T I A L KINGSTON 001585 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/LP BOZZOLO, BROWN
WHA/CAR FOR TILGHMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2017
TAGS: SNAR PREL ASEC TRSY JM
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: APPOINTMENT OF WELL KNOWN ANTI-CORRUPTION
FIGHTER TO MINISTRY OF FINANCE

REF: KINGSTON 1464

Classified By: DCM James T. Heg for reasons 1.4. (b) & (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINGSTON 001585

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/LP BOZZOLO, BROWN
WHA/CAR FOR TILGHMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2017
TAGS: SNAR PREL ASEC TRSY JM
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: APPOINTMENT OF WELL KNOWN ANTI-CORRUPTION
FIGHTER TO MINISTRY OF FINANCE

REF: KINGSTON 1464

Classified By: DCM James T. Heg for reasons 1.4. (b) & (d)


1. (C) Summary: As anticipated, on October 22, the Jamaican
Minister of Finance, Audley Shaw, appointed Col. Trevor
MacMillan as a Special Advisor on Revenue and Corruption. The
Prime Minister asked the Finance Minister to appoint
MacMillan as a Special Advisor to provide him with an
official status within the Golding Government, until such
time as the GOJ is able to redraft and pass the necessary
legislation to create the National Independent Investigative
Authority Act. The NIIA will consolidate and coordinate all
public corruption investigations. MacMillan has stated that
he will not head another toothless, under-resourced agency.
Prime Minster Golding ran on an anti-corruption campaign.
The appointment of MacMillan, who is a known anti-corruption
fighter, is a small signal that the GOJ is moving in the
right direction. End Summary.


2. (C) On October 17, MacMillan met with the NAS Director,
and UK and Canadian High Commissioners to outline Prime
Minister Golding's plans to resuscitate the dormant
legislative initiative for the NIIA and the intention of the
GOJ to appoint him as Special Advisor to the Minister of
Finance for Anti-Corruption and Revenue. It was widely
speculated prior to and just after Bruce Golding's election
as Prime Minister that MacMillan would end up as either a
Special Advisor to Golding, or as a Special Advisor to
Derrick Smith, Minister of National Security. A personality
conflict between MacMillan and Smith (MacMillan has made no
bones about his opinion that Smith has neither the technical
capability nor the backbone for the job) prevented
MacMillan's appointment to either position. The Ministry of
Finance appointment will permit MacMillan to have an official
status within the government until the NIIA legislation can
be revised, presented in Parliament, passed; and implemented.

3, (C) During our meeting with MacMillan, we all expressed
concerns that the current draft NIIA legislation, which was
prepared by the former Minister of National Security
(Reftel),is so toothless as to be unacceptable. For
example, under the current legislative structure, the
Authority would have to ask Cabinet for approval to launch
any investigation, and the Authority has no arrest powers.
MacMillan agreed with our assessment and told us that unless
the legislation is altered to his satisfaction to create a
truly independent Authority, with police powers and full
discretion over public corruption investigations, he would
not agree to head it.


4. (C) MacMillan called on the U.S., UK and Canada to
exercise the maximum political leverage to ensure that the
NIIA legislation is properly amended, in a timely fashion.
We all agreed that a strong NIIA was in everyone's interest
and pledged support to the fight to see the Authority
launched. However, we all pointed out that it will take more
than just our lobbying efforts to get this done. The UK High
Commissioner put it most bluntly when he stated that unless
Bruce (Golding - PM) is willing to stick his neck out and
push for this it will fail despite any effort Jamaica's
international partner will make. Both the UK and Canadian
High Commissioner chose to use Drug Don and JLP financial
supporter, Christopher Coke as an example, asking MacMillan
to pass on to the Prime Minister their view that unless Coke
was going to be one of the Agency's top targets, that their
governments couldn't support it. As Coke is the subject of a
current DEA investigation, the NAS Director did not address
Coke directly but simply added that we too would not accept
it if the NIIA played political favorites when it chooses who
to investigate.


5. (C) Comment: MacMillan, who is a retired Jamaica Defence
Force Officer, has a reputation as a hard-nosed,
uncompromising anti-corruption fighter. During his
three-year stint as Police Commissioner, he was able to
effect positive change within the organization. If given
the power he seeks to conduct public corruption
investigations at the highest level, he could do much to root
out this pervasive problem in Jamaica. End Comment
JOHNSON