Letter to the Editor

Charles “Chuckie” Clifford explains his resignation from civil service

Monday, August 30, 2004

Dear Sir,

As most people will know by now, I resigned as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Environment, Development and Commerce effective 31 July 2004. There are a few people, particularly supporters of the United Democratic Party (UDP), that have questioned this issue and I fully anticipated that this would happen.

It is for that reason that it is my intention at the Peoples Progressive Movement’s (PPM) first public meeting in Bodden Town to spend a few minutes addressing the reasons why I resigned at short notice. However, I thought that it would be helpful if I also did so via this medium.

I have spent all of my working life in the public service having served for 16 years as a police officer and then for the past 7-1/2 years in the Ministry of Tourism, the last 3-1/2 years of which was as Permanent Secretary of Tourism.

I feel compelled to point out at this point that civil servants, contrary to what some people believe, are not members of political parties. They are prohibited from association with political parties by virtue of the Government’s General Orders.

I was not, therefore, a member of the UDP as some seem to believe. I was simply the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism during a UDP administration. If I had not resigned from my post and the government had changed to a PPM administration, I would have continued as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry.

I have always counseled my staff that there first duty is to be loyal to the government of the day and that means providing the best policy advice and administrative support to the government, whether or not they supported their policies, while remaining neutral at all times.

This is necessary so that when there is a change in the government, which is inevitable from time to time, that the new government will be comfortable working with the staff of the prior administration.

I had been contemplating leaving the civil service for the past five months and rumours were rampant that I was running for the electoral district of Bodden Town in the 2004 General Elections.

I assume that this rumour was started because there were many people, some of which were associated with political parties in Cayman and others that were not, who were encouraging me to seek political office for the constituency of Bodden Town.

Up until 2-1/2 months ago I had told all of these individuals that I would not seek office at this time although I was, and I still am, extremely concerned with the very dangerous path that the country is currently on.

The Leader of Government Business (LGB), the Honourable McKeeva Bush, and I had a discussion about this around that same time (two and a half months ago) and I also had a separate discussion on the matter with the Minister of Education, the Honourable Roy Bodden. I told them both that I, like many other people, was very concerned about the state of affairs in the country and I told the Honourable Roy Bodden that Bodden Towners were particularly upset with the lack of action and attention in that district. Notwithstanding that, I had decided not to seek political office at that time and I communicated that decision to both Ministers separately.

It should be noted that Government Ministries consist of two components: the administrative and political components. The Permanent Secretary is accountable for the administrative side and the Minister is accountable for the political side. Space constraints in your newspaper will not allow me to get into the details about the issues that caused me to resign from the government. Suffice it to say that there were many occasions that I had to make decisions that were not very popular with the LGB, the Honourable McKeeva Bush, despite the fact that these decisions were in accordance with the law, rules, regulations and/or established processes.
Although my decisions were always correct, and this was acknowledged by His Excellency the Governor, over the last eight months, I did not feel that there was sufficient support at the Governor’s level for me to continue to make the right decisions. With the coming into effect of the new Public Management and Finance Law which created a much higher level of accountability for Permanent Secretaries, I realized that if Permanent Secretaries were not afforded the level of support that the law assumed they would have, that the system would begin to disintegrate.

The creation of this situation, inadvertent though it may be, lends itself to widespread corruption and improper influence rapidly entering into the government at the very senior level. I am very concerned that if this is allowed to continue, then we can begin to write the final chapter in democracy in our country. This must not be allowed to happen and I certainly intend to do my part to ensure that it does not.

I discussed the matter with my family for a second time and we collectively decided that I would resign from the government to pursue a career in law and that I would at the same time reconsider contesting the 2004 General Elections in the district of Bodden Town.

Therefore, considering the foregoing and the many other serious issues facing the country such as constitutional modernization, the implications of the status grants and the multitude of district issues that are in urgent need of addressing in a strategic way, I formed the view that I could best serve my country at this time by offering myself as a candidate in the 2004 General Elections.

I truly believe that with the checks and balances in the public service now in question, our best hope is to elect politicians who respect the public service and the public servants of our country, and politicians that are prepared to respect the laws, regulations, rules and processes which they establish.

I believe that those politicians are members of the PPM.

I tendered my resignation from the Cayman Islands Government in accordance with Chapter 2, section 45 of General Orders. I advised the Governor that in accordance with General Orders and in lieu of one month’s notice, I was prepared to pay one months salary.

However, I did have 33 days annual leave outstanding for which I was entitled to payment, notwithstanding the fact that my annual leave would have to be prorated.

For the avoidance of doubt, General Orders does not require a public officer to give any notice of resignation at all if he/she is prepared to pay one month’s salary in lieu of notice.

I decided that my resignation would take effect immediately because, as I said earlier, both the LGB and the Minister of Education were aware of my views on the state of affairs in the country, and I am certain that neither of them would have been comfortable with me remaining in office during the one month notice of my resignation.

The LGB would have been the first to request of the Governor that I proceed on leave immediately following my resignation, so the result would have been the same. In other words I would have vacated office immediately whether I had given one month’s notice or not.

There are some UDP Members and their agents that have questioned my loyalty to the LGB because I resigned from office. I wish to state for the record that I was loyal to the government of the day up until my last day of service and those civil servants that have worked with me can attest to that. However, I am convinced that our country is heading in a very dangerous direction, and in these circumstances, my loyalty is and will always be first and foremost to my country, and I make absolutely no apologies for that.

In concluding I wish to state my intention to debate the many very serious issues facing the country during this upcoming campaign and to stay away from personal attacks and propaganda. On the other hand I wish to say to the politicians and their agents on the other side of the political fence, that they should not doubt my ability and resolve to respond to them if they decide to engage in personal attacks and propaganda.

To all civil servants I say thanks for your commitment and dedication to your country. I know that there is a sense of fear and intimidation in the civil service at this time, but help is on the way, and you will soon enjoy the respect that you so rightly deserve.

Charles E. Clifford, LL.B.(Hons.), JP
Political Candidate for the PPM
The Electoral District of Bodden Town

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