The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

LONG before his impromptu resignation from the Progressive Liberal Party on Monday due to what he called “a problem with leadership”, Greg Moss had battled with the reality that the party that “believed in Bahamians” had failed to live up to the principles and ideals on which the party was built.

On the heels of the PLP’s concept of “new generation of leaders”, newcomers such as Dr Andre Rollins, Renward Wells, Mr Moss and Dion Smith were all ushered into mainstream politics.

Mr Moss was elected as the member of parliament for the Marco City constituency. He received nearly 50 per cent of the 5,130 possible votes in the middle-class district of Grand Bahama.

Mr Moss, an attorney, was later named chairman of the National Insurance Board (NIB).

In mid-2012, shortly after his appointment, Mr Moss clashed with the then NIB director, Algernon Cargill, over whether NIB should have fully taken-up BAB Holdings’ $10m preference share issue.

Mr Cargill said management had recommended NIB “not participate” in the private placement by BAB while Mr Moss told the NIB Investments Committee that Prime Minister Perry Christie and several Cabinet ministers were pushing for it to purchase the full $10m offered by BAB.

The investment opportunity was declined by the Ministry of Finance on October 1, 2012 after Mr Moss wrote a letter outlining the affair and management’s concerns. The relationship between Mr Moss and Mr Cargill never recovered and tensions grew.

Reports surfaced in earlier December that NIB, on two occasions, came close to missing monthly payments to Bahamian pensioners after its chairman, Mr Moss, revoked management’s authority to “manage cash flow”. Those reports were alleged by Mr Cargill.

In documents filed with the Supreme Court, he claimed that Mr Moss’s August 2012 decision to remove management’s power to control NIB’s investment portfolio resulted in more than $15m being left in a non-interest bearing account at the Central Bank of the Bahamas for several days.

In his affidavit, Mr Cargill said he received an August 2, 2012, a memorandum from Mr Moss requesting that no management executive “engage in placing or renewing the placement of any of the funds” belonging to NIB without first getting approval from the Board or its relevant committee.

On January 3, 2013, just months after being appointed NIB chairman, Mr Moss was asked by Prime Minister Perry Christie to resign or be fired after the disgruntled MP criticised the PLP leader on his Facebook page.

A defiant, Mr Moss refused to resign. He was sacked the next day. Before the termination took effect, sources close to the Marco City MP said he wanted “history to show” that he was “terminated” from his post by the Prime Minister for fighting corruption at NIB.

In a statement, Mr Moss said his conscience was clear.

During the NIB fiasco, Mr Moss was ridiculed by Free National Movement members in the House of Assembly, who alleged that he was guilty of abusing his post and the misappropriation of public funds.

Mr Moss wrote in a letter to Mr Christie that he could not tender his resignation, as doing so would be the equivalent to an “admission” that he had done something wrong in the discharge of his duties as chairman of NIB.

In the weeks following his dismissal Mr Moss joined fellow political newcomer, Dr Andre Rollins, in a scathing criticism of the PLP leadership and direction. Both criticised the government’s plan to implement Value Added Tax (VAT), suggesting that it would only worsen financial woes for everyday Bahamians.

When asked about Mr Moss’ criticism, MICAL MP V Alfred Gray said the approach that the “new generation” politicians take is much different from the “older generation”.

He said: “The older generation might be a little more cautious and a little more careful in what they say and do because they’ve been around a long time. Politics is slippery. If you mess up, you could be out, just by being fast on your tongue.”

PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts severely criticised Mr Moss’ statements on VAT. “He expressed himself, but he obviously did not understand what the facts (are) here,” Mr Roberts told The Tribune. He added that Mr Moss spoke “out of turn” and is “on a course that obviously only he is on”.

That “course” led to Monday’s surprise resignation.