We have come to that fork in the road where the talk must be stopped; the rot arrested; and for this community to move on to matters that mean the most to the Bahamian people. Here we reference the sorry mess that has bullied its way front and centre stage.
That issue concerns the damage done by two highly placed members of the governing Progressive Liberal Party, namely Kenyatta Gibson and Keod Smith. One is currently serving as Chairman of the Gaming Board. The other is respectfully referred to as His Excellency Keod M. Smith, Ambassador for the Environment.
Like other right-thinking Bahamians, we have had enough of both apology and grandiloquence.
Our advice is blunt and to the point: the Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie shouldﾖand without further delay, explanation or apology – ask these men to relinquish their posts. There is sufficient justification for this action.
The buck stops with the man who is constitutionally empowered to appoint and ﾑdis-appoint.ﾒ And soﾖlike it or not-the prime minister must do what he must.
None of this is to say that he should feel obliged to do what he must because we are calling on him to do what we think is the right thing.
But even as he can take whatever action he sees fit, we can tell him that failure to act decisively in this matter will itself signal loud and clear that he is not hearing the word that is coming in from the very bowels of the Bahamian people. That word is that they have had enough of pomposity, neglect and empty apology. And so it is today that the public is demanding decision in the matter involving the two men who were reported as having had a fight in the Cabinet Office.
Even though Kennedy MP and Chairman of the Gaming Board, Kenyatta Gibson says that he is “deeply saddened that human frailty led to behavior that he deeply regretted” the public desires more than these empty locutions.
We hasten to add that he is absolutely correct when he notes that “these events declined to an unacceptable and undignified level.”
And for sure, we hear him loud and clear when he says: “I therefore sincerely and unreservedly apologize for my conduct, and I hope that the Bahamian people, my constituents and my colleagues can forgive me.”
We can assure him that he does have our forgiveness.
But quite truthfully, that is not todayﾒs issue.
Todayﾒs concern has to do with what needs to be done in order for all of us to move on.
In the ultimate analysis ﾖthen- we will all be in a position to move on when both Kenyatta Gibson and Keod Smith either vacate the posts they now fill, or are obliged to move.
This move should be brought to conclusion by a prime minister who ﾖhimself- should by now be sick and tired of such disgraceful behavior on the part of men who would be given the appellations like “Honourable” or “Excellency”.
Now that neither Kenyatta Gibson nor His Excellency Keod M. Smith, Ambassador for the Environment, Keod Smith have seen fit to resign their posts as Chairman of the Gaming Board and Ambassador for The Environment, respectively, we make an urgent call on the Prime Minister to do what we suspect he knows he must now do.
He must demand that they resign. In the absence of their tendered resignations, they should be fired.
As far as we are concerned, Kenyatta Gibson and Keod Smith can and should spare their leader further distress. They can do so by tendering their resignations from the positions they have so terribly disgraced.
They forfeited their right to serve when they did whatever they did in the Cabinet Room. And quite frankly, we are no longer interested in the details. What we know is that as long as they are allowed to stick or stay around, they will constitute a distraction to those who would serve the public with the honor and distinction the Bahamian people so richly deserve.
Editorial from The Bahama Journal
