The government's decision to hold a parliamentary inquiry into the 2011 sale of 51 percent of The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) in the waning months of its term of low achievement, smacks of desperation and amounts to a clumsy and sophomoric attempt to change the narrative from the Chinese fisheries/farming controversy and other snafus that have dogged the Christie administration.
Over the last three weeks, the public's interest and focus have been squarely aimed at the ill-considered conclusion of V. Alfred Gray, the agriculture and marine resources minister, that the proposed initiative with the Chinese to fish our waters on an industrial scale would be "progressive" and was worth pursuing.
The government's attempt to shift the spotlight on the BTC sale -- which was so incredibly contentious it is widely viewed as a key reason for the Free National Movement's 2012 election defeat -- is seen for what it is.
Incredibly, after four and a half years in office, the government has missed repeated opportunities to make public whatever details it has that prove the contention by Sir Franklyn Wilson that the 2011 deal was "horrendous".
Sir Franklyn headed the committee Prime Minister Perry Christie appointed to fulfill a campaign promise to get back a majority ownership in BTC on behalf of the Bahamian people.
We are told this was achieved, although Christie had no success in his commitment to regain "control" of the company. It has been two and a half years since the Christie administration signed its agreement with CWC. It still has not made it public. It is why we find it so laughable that the prime minister continues to speak to his unproven commitment to transparency and accountability, as he did on the eve of the historic Black Friday march in New Providence last week.
In 2013, Sir Franklyn told us that the committee had found "shocking revelations" regarding the sale and wanted Parliament to convene a select committee to probe it.
A year later, after the government and CWC announced they had reached an agreement on the share transfer, he said that statement was never meant to implicate CWC in any wrongdoing, adding, "We've developed a great deal of trust in Cable & Wireless."
"When this exercise started there was a lot of talk and rumors about possible impropriety by Cable & Wireless," Sir Franklyn said. "I want the world to know that obviously our committee investigated all those rumors. We have heard what you heard. We found absolutely no evidence of impropriety with respect to the conduct of Cable & Wireless in these matters."
But he said the actions of the Ingraham administration were "terrible" and there is no way its decisions in respect to this matter could be justified.
Later, Wilson told us that the Bahamas government netted less than $100 million for the sale.
"The more and more we look at these figures, we are having grave difficulty avoiding the conclusion that when it is all said and done, the Commonwealth of The Bahamas would have received less than $100 million for having parted with control of BTC," he said.
"It's amazing, but that's what the numbers suggest, and this is why we think it's terribly important that the people of The Bahamas benefit from a full airing of this matter to see if we are reading the figures correctly, because it just seems so incredible."
Wilson made that statement in February 2014.
No fear
On Thursday, Julian Francis, who was chairman of BTC at the time of the controversial sale, had an extensive discussion with National Review on the 2011 sale.
While he expressed disappointment in CWC's performance, Francis said he has no fear that anything would be unearthed that would prove that the deal was horrendous.
"I am absolutely happy to fully cooperate with a government inquiry because I have no concern regarding anything that might not be favorably viewed, but I also believe that a proper inquiry will show that this was the best deal that could have been done. I'm totally convinced of that," he told us.
We asked Francis to respond to a claim made in the House of Assembly last week by Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis that then Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham paid almost $500,000 over his (Francis') recommended bonuses for 15 executives, which Davis suggested was a means of inducing the executives to remain quiet.
Francis said Citibank, which was advising the government on the privatization, had recommended retention bonuses of $5 million to ensure that key people remained on the team until the privatization process was concluded, something he said is standard in these kinds of transactions.
The former chairman also discussed with us repeated claims that the government netted less than $100 million from the sale.
"The treasury got a transfer of $217 million. That I know. The treasurer has confirmed that. She confirmed that. That went into the bank," he said.
"What they are saying is that when you take into account the need to top up the pension plan, that when you take those expenses into account, that, in fact, the net amount that was received by the government was considerably less than $217 million, but they misunderstand; either that or they are trying to compare apples and oranges.
"What I'm saying is simply this: in any event the government would have had to correct deficiencies in the BTC pension plan. The government was the owner of BTC at the time of the sale and it was responsible for the pension plan being whole, that is being sufficient to cover its liabilities."
As a part of the privatization transaction, the government agreed to put aside $39 million in a trust fund to cover its pension obligations.
Those critical of the sale say that $39 million must be subtracted from the $217 million.
However, Francis said, "The thing is, the government had to make the pension right, even if it didn't sell BTC."
The government also left $15 million in the bank at the time of the sale for BTC to be regarded as a going concern. In other words, CWC was purchasing a company that was alive.
"These are just techniques of sale," Francis told National Review. "There is nothing different, nothing unusual, and they are pretending that this is the first time in the world a company was sold with cash in it."
The former chairman insisted the transaction was professionally done.
"Every single line of the balance sheet was the subject of intense discussions between the parties," he said.
While Francis supports a probe, he said it would appear less political if a professional firm conducts the examination, instead of politicians.
"I want it to be a thorough exercise calling for all the papers, reconstructing the transaction and making the appropriate comparisons, and the Bahamian public would understand exactly how the transaction was done," he said.
We also asked Francis whether he was curious about the timing of the appointment of the parliamentary select committee, which is chaired by Golden Gates MP Shane Gibson.
Francis said, "I try not to comment on those things because it is getting into the politics of it, and I don't want to do that." But he added, "As a citizen of The Bahamas, I find it a bit curious that it is this late, but I guess there have been other more important things to focus on."
With the holidays approaching and the life of the current Parliament nearing its end, it will be interesting to see whether anything comes out of this parliamentary committee that has been established.
Of course, a government desperate for a new narrative it hopes would reignite the public's angst toward the Ingraham administration might be motivated to work with haste in this regard.
But an electorate that has already rejected Ingraham's FNM, might have less of an appetite now for exacting punishment on that party for a deal it found unpalatable.
So many are consumed by their unbridled disgust of and frustration toward the Christie administration, that their desire to speak loudly in the ballot boxes against the PLP might intensify as we move closer to the end of the term.
Under such circumstances, they would become unmoved by political trickery and shameless deflection.
Candia Dames, Guardian Managing Editor
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