Editor,
From a legal point of view, most, if not all, charities are supposed to be registered as such with the Companies Division of the Registrar General’s Department. They are supposed to file annual returns listing the officers and directors. There are no other enforceable legal requirements, unlike in the USA and the UK.
Over the years, various “charities” have popped up all over the place with dubious-sounding names and even more dubious agendas. In some instances, the front people are well known in Bahamian society, and I am certain this is one of the main selling points to potential donors and supporters. The basic question remains: To whom are these “charities” accountable, and which governmental agencies oversee them?
Every so often, non-profits call for the construction of a shelter for homeless people, a shelter for abused and battered women and children, and, nowadays, more financial assistance from the government and the private sector. To my knowledge, none of them have yet established a vocational aspect of their “charities,” where people are taught a marketable vocational or trade skill to become less dependent on charity. This perpetuates slackness and downright laziness. Way back in the day, it was commonly said that one should teach a man/woman how to fish instead of simply giving them a minuscule can of sardines and perpetuating a decadent lifestyle.
Many “charities” with which I have some personal knowledge are prone to splitting into warring factions and acrimonious finger-pointing at some juncture. Many of the “principals” seem to remain in office without public elections forever and at least a day. What salaries and other benefits are paid or accrued to these people?
When real estate and other assets are acquired, gifted, or purchased, in whose name—whether individual or corporate—are they vested? There are many so-called “churches” akin to “charities,” which, over the years, have descended into literal warfare and even litigation. Too often, these so-called “churches” are regarded as personal property to be passed on to a son or daughter of the original “founders” and their carefully selected advisors.
I cry shame that our laws and regulations as they relate to “charities” are too vague to the point of being pointless. The risk of abuse and chick charney is too great, and there may well be the possibility of graft and mismanagement of funds, seemingly with impunity and a total lack of accountability.
During this time of year, all and sundry so-called “charities” will be making appeals for assistance, as they are wont to do. They appeal to the Christian conscience, where it may exist, of unsuspecting donors and supporters, many of whom are beguiled into making sizeable financial gifts to appease their “guilty” state of mind.
I appreciate that the Davis administration is busy with the vital business of the Bahamian people. However, any well-ordered society requires strict rules of law, order, and accountability, regardless of the formal structure of any organization that purports to cater to the unwashed masses. Charities and churches should and must be no different.
Another vexing societal issue, from my point of view, is the so-called Senior Citizens Homes/Facilities. Many of these establishments are operated for profit and charge rates that could, prima facie, appear to be exorbitant. Many of the operators have little if any, formal training in establishing and operating such facilities. Many of the residents of those facilities are up in age and are alleged to suffer from dementia and other varied forms of mental illnesses.
Often, their relatives, especially children, abandon them and leave them to the whims and quirks of the facility operators. Are any of these residents being sexually or otherwise abused? When I was privileged to practice law, I would often be required to visit aged clients at The Sandilands Rehabilitation Center and/or The Geriatrics Hospital.
While the majority of the personnel at those institutions are/were decent and honest Bahamians, to my knowledge, several times, these aged clients were bamboozled and defrauded of valuable assets, including real estate and savings. Commonly, it would only be after a patient is deceased, and the so-called relatives start to inquire about “daddy or mommy’s” estate that it would be discovered that deceit and fraud of the highest order had been perpetrated!
I call upon our Prime Minister, Philip Davis, to instruct Attorney General, Senator Ryan Pinder, and his drafting personnel in the Office of the Attorney General to draft and prepare proposed regulations and rules to govern and have punitive oversight of these so-called “charities” and “churches.”
I am not suggesting that they should be taxed or pay for a business license, but something has to give before the shaving cream hits the proverbial fan. I have publicly informed governmental agencies and ministries about the plight of a wheelchair-bound Bahamian who has no lower body and has been living on the sidewalk on Farrington Road, right next to the six-legged roundabout.
These are all within visual distance of several so-called churches, including those on Farrington Road and Davis Street, and multiple governmental ministries, including Social Services, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of National Security—to no avail so far. Is this how we will continue to treat the marginalized and less fortunate within our midst? To God then, in all things, be the glory.
Written by:
Ortland H. Bodie Jr.
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