24 Jun 2014

 The Office of the President (OP) has expressed concern at the manner in which some leaders who hold positions of responsibility deal with issues of national importance.

In a media statement, the OP cites  a recent communication it received from the Leader of the Opposition (LOO), filing what he deems an official report.

“It is quite disappointing that someone in the position of LOO could use unsubstantiated allegations in the media as a basis for filing a formal report to H.E’s Office, without ascertaining the accuracy of such reports.

“If indeed the LOO had genuine concerns,” the statement says  “the proper procedure would have been for him to forward them to the appropriate authorities, in this case the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), rather than elevating them to H.E’s Office, while simultaneously sharing them with the media.”

The statement says: “this does not reflect good faith, or an intention to engage meaningfully and resolve these issues.  

“The DCEC has issued a press release outlining the procedure to be followed in reporting matters that fall within their purview.

“Most importantly, DCEC underlined that mentioning   such allegations in the public domain can be seriously misleading, and undermine their efforts in conducting proper investigations.”

The statement says the OP wishes to emphasise that the rule of law and due process are the pinnacles of our Constitutional Democracy.

“In this regard, we wish to reiterate that there are proper channels for reporting corruption, and anyone who has information to that effect should follow established channels and report to the DCEC,” it states.  Ends