By Dr. Isaac Newton
Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s call for accountability in the Harney Motors case offers Antigua and Barbuda a defining chance to model justice, restore trust, and lead with moral courage.
The decision that Harney Motors will repay ten million dollars is more than a business correction. It is a moral moment for Antigua and Barbuda. It marks a turning point where accountability must become more than a principle; it must become a practice that defines leadership, renews trust, and anchors public life in integrity.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s firm stance on accountability is commendable and courageous. His leadership in demanding transparency sends a clear signal that governance, when rooted in fairness and moral conviction, strengthens the soul of the nation. When both public officials and private entities are held responsible, justice ceases to be selective and becomes a shared national value that binds the citizenry together.
Yet integrity demands consistency. It is right to celebrate restitution, but it is also right to ask deeper questions about how this situation emerged. Was the substantive minister of the ministry aware? Was there negligence, failure of oversight, or quiet complicity? Leadership carries responsibility, and those entrusted with authority must also be accountable to it. For the sake of transparency and institutional trust, it would be wise for the minister to step aside temporarily while an independent investigation is conducted. If cleared, such an act would restore confidence and honor. If culpability is found, accountability must follow.
This is not a call for condemnation but for character. Accountability builds integrity into the very foundation of governance. It refines systems, dignifies service, and reaffirms that responsibility is not the enemy of loyalty but its truest expression.
Prime Minister Browne now has a rare opportunity to shape a new national culture of leadership where courage, fairness, and moral discipline stand above political expedience. By pairing restitution with rigorous investigation and ethical renewal, his administration can turn a moment of controversy into a model of moral governance for the region.
True progress is not measured by how well we defend power but by how bravely we reform it. Good governance requires not only strong institutions but strong consciences. When leaders choose truth over comfort and integrity over convenience, the entire nation rises.
This moment is both a test and an opportunity. It calls Antigua and Barbuda to act with care, conscience, and conviction. The courage shown today will define the moral character and public trust of tomorrow.
About the Author
Dr. Isaac Newton is a strategist and scholar trained at Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia. He advises governments and international institutions on governance, public transformation, and global justice. His work blends visionary thinking with practical insight, helping Global South nations address historical injustice, advance human dignity, and engage global issues of peace, sovereignty, and shared prosperity. Dr. Newton envisions societies where innovation and responsibility evolve together to promote human flourishing.
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This man cannot be real
RE: Courageous Governance: Integrity, Accountability, and the Promise of Justice
Dr. Newton, I appreciate the call for both restitution and ethical renewal. Prime Minister Browne’s stance on accountability in the Harney Motors case is indeed a commendable start. However, I share the skepticism that this is the full measure of courageous governance.
Justice and integrity must be applied across the board, without political selectivity. The focus on the dealership’s repayment, while necessary, seems to conveniently overlook the systemic failings within the government that enabled this situation.
We must ask:
How could a dealership unilaterally secure and deliver government-purchased vehicles without a legitimate, fully executed paper trail? The procurement process is governed by requisitions, purchase orders, oversight bodies, and specific ministerial approvals.
Where are the internal audits and oversight mechanisms? The primary issue here isn’t solely a private company’s actions; it’s the failure of government bodies to follow established protocol.
The call for the substantive minister to temporarily step aside is wise, but accountability must go deeper. The fact that this situation emerged demands a thorough, independent, and non-partisan investigation to expose the entire network of negligence, failure of oversight, and potential complicity—not just the minister, but the permanent secretaries, financial officers, and procurement committees involved.
Any political grandstanding that celebrates restitution while simultaneously obstructing a full, transparent inquiry into the government’s role is abominable and politically immature. We deserve more than rhetoric.
If the Prime Minister is truly committed to walking the walk of justice, he must not allow this to be selectively applied only to those who “don’t fall in line.” True moral leadership means subjecting his own administration and processes to the same rigorous accountability he demands of private entities. Anything less suggests a prioritization of political control over genuine public trust.
Accountability must be comprehensive, or it is merely a political tool!!!
Nothing will change. As the PM said we all know and knew of all this corruption. At one time it was mainly the politicians from both parties, ABLP & UPP. Both the same. UPPites must remember that neither Baldwin Spencer nor David Shoul were jailed for the 6 generators we paid for and that never worked and also cost the country an additional 250 million dollars in the law suit won by APC over this deal. No one went to jail over the billion dollars spent on roads and condos for rats in St. John’s. My point is there is no difference. And Customs, Police, Immigration, Public Works, DCA etc have always been filled with payoffs. Gaston Browne said he knew for instance of the corruption at Treasury where only certain people received payments. And he did nothing until now. And this corruption has been there since the 1980s so it is nothing new. But this is a small island and many knew especially in the halls of power and did nothing. Where is ONDCP?
People just don’t understand when I used the terminology “state capture” and now Gaston is using words like captured individual, but no , it’s a state capture, because he Gaston as prime minister control the levers to all civil servants and police and I dare say judiciary as he and asot were cursing each other about, Joann Walsh became casualty.