Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said Monday he will not tolerate corruption of any kind and that he was led by his “conscience” to terminate Reece Chipman as chairman of the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation (AMMC).
The firing, which came after Chipman refused to resign on Friday, was allegedly related to Chipman’s handling of the AMMC.
While not revealing why Chipman was terminated yesterday, Dr. Minnis suggested the firing was related to corruption.
“I always say, whatever I do, I put God first and I am lead by the conscience. Once my conscience is clear I am happy and the FNM made a commitment. We said that we would govern in a certain manner and a certain way,” he said.
“We said we will root out corruption and bring honesty and integrity into governance and that’s what we will do. We will stay the course, nothing will change it.”
Dr. Minnis would not reveal why Chipman was fired however, he said after meeting with Cabinet on Tuesday, he will partially inform the public.
“Cabinet sent out a statement, but as to why that happened; I have not informed cabinet yet and cabinet meets today and they will be informed,” he said.
“I won’t release all the details but the records will be there and whoever is government next can reveal them if they wish.”
Dr. Minnis also said he is not concerned about the possible backlash from members of the public or persons within his party.
“I do what I think is right. You voted for me to do a job and I told the Bahamian people that if there is any undoing, or what I consider against our polices in either party – either the PLP or the FNM – we deal with it appropriately. We just dealing with society,” he said.
“Once Bahamians are aware of our manifesto then they can be assured we will adhere and we will carry it through.”
It is still unclear why Chipman was fired but in a scathing letter to Dr. Minnis dated March 23, he pointed out several issues with how AMMC was being managed, including an alleged overpayment of $206,000 that was not returned to the treasury.
Chipman said the prime minister ignored his concerns and his expectations of the Office of the Prime Minister were not met.
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