Description

In a jaw-dropping speech in Parliament, the Prime Minister Gaston Browne hurls never before heard accusations of fraud and attempted acts of corruption at the scandal-ridden, disgraced MP for St. Peter, Asot Michael who once sat in his cabinet, but with whom he has now irrevocably fallen out. 

In so doing, Browne reveals that he and others have been concealing the true extent of corruption at the highest level of government for years. Further, and in a paradox of logic, Browne admits that he kept Michael in his Cabinet for several years despite numerous alleged attempts at corrupt acts during Michael's time as a minister.  

In a country with near completely inert anti-corruption enforcement, Browne's oft repeated assurance that abuse isn't occurring in his administration would seem to suggest that at every turn, where there allegedly are attempts to commit corrupt acts, he is there to personally stop it. 

This episode features a pre-discussion analysis of structural weaknesses in Antigua and Barbuda's government which leave it exposed to the possibility of chronic abuse in the public sector. The host is Kieron Murdoch.

The guests are:

1. Akaash Maharaj, an Ambassador-at-Large for the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption. The body is an international alliance of elected parliamentarians, aiming to combat corruption, strengthen good governance, and uphold the rule of law. 
2. Dr. David Hinds, a Guyanese political analyst who is Associate Professor of African American and Caribbean Studies at the Arizona State University.

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on February 21, 2021.