The Tribune

THE Minister of National Security must think we are fools.

Wayne Munroe tells us that Carlos Reid and Rodney Moncur have never been contracted as violence interrupters – despite it having been announced as such by the Office of the Prime Minister.

Indeed, the Prime Minister himself has commented previously on the role of Mr Moncur in particular, without having dismissed the suggestion that he was a violence interrupter.

Let us recap the sequence of events.

This all began in April 2022 when former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis raised several questions about the issue in the House of Assembly. He asked the government to confirm the appointment of Rodney Moncur as a consultant.

It was in response to questions raised in Parliament that the director of communications in the Office of the Prime Minister, Latrae Rahming, confirmed the appointment.

At the time, he said: “The Ministry of National Security has engaged former (opposition) Senator Rodney Moncur as a consultant on crime … We have said that violence interrupters were a key component in solving the issue. We are using community leaders in our approach.”

He added: “There (are) a number of people who are violence disruptors. This is a key and new initiative the government is rolling out as part of our programme and so I think that in solving crime from a community level you have to use individuals from the community.”

When the story first emerged, there was concern over whether Mr Moncur – who has been a controversial figure at times with his views on birth control, gender equality and more – was a fit choice for such an appointment. But there seemed little suggestion then – with an official announcement by the government following questions in Parliament – that there was no such appointment at all.

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis was asked directly about Mr Moncur’s appointment – and whether there was a conflict of interest at all with Mr Moncur having often had Mr Munroe as a guest on his talk show.

He dismissed that suggestion, but went on to say that Mr Moncur was “someone that could help in the fight that we are in against violent crimes”. He did not reject the statement – given by his own office – that Mr Moncur was a violence interrupter.

Mr Munroe did note on that occasion that Mr Moncur was not a consultant but an independent contractor, while adding “… since nobody has sight of his contract I don’t know how you criticise something that you don’t know the details of”.

There were even further questions raised, with the Shadow Minister for National Security, Shanendon Cartwright, raising further questions – and saying that the government had to explain what qualified Mr Moncur for his role.

Then even last week, Mr Reid was saying that the violence interrupter initiative had yet to be rolled out – despite him having submitted the proposal and being hopeful that it would begin soon. He certainly seemed to think he was involved in such a scheme.

And then Mr Munroe denies any of that existed. He said that the government wouldn’t hire someone as a violence interrupter because that would identify the person and make them a target. And he went on to say that neither Mr Moncur nor Mr Reid fitted the classic description of a violence interrupter.

But that’s not what the Prime Minister’s office said. That’s not the impression that was given in response to questions raised in Parliament. That’s not something that the Prime Minister dismissed when he had the opportunity – and why would he, when his own office announced it. That’s not something that one of the participants seemed to be under the impression of. And it’s not something that was clarified in response to concerns raised by the Opposition.

Mr Munroe has had plenty of chances to clarify this – and if it was not true when the Prime Minister’s office announced it, he should have done so then and there.

For the better part of two years, we have had no reason to doubt what was announced by the government – and now Mr Munroe says none of that was correct.

Are we to believe him, or are we to believe the Prime Minister and his staff?

Is he contradicting the Prime Minister’s office?

And in all of that, we are no closer to knowing how much has been paid to such individuals and what have they delivered for that payment.

Right now, we do not even know who is correct. That needs to be resolved – and swiftly. Has the Bahamian public been misled? And if so, by whom?