Prominent financial consultant Kem Warner has warned that Antigua and Barbuda faces serious challenges in managing public funds, not because of a lack of legislation, but due to weak supervision and enforcement.
Speaking on best practices in financial governance, Warner stressed that the country does not suffer from an absence of laws and regulations. Instead, he argued, the real issue lies in how those rules are monitored and applied.
โWhat we have in Antigua and Barbuda is the lack of supervision, which is the enforcement of regulations,โ he said. โWe tend to pass laws and policies, often as knee-jerk reactions to crises, but the problem is not always in the rules themselves โ it is in how they are enforced.โ
Warner criticised a culture of reactive decision-making, where new legislation is used to appease public concern rather than to strengthen long-term internal controls and risk management. He called for a more proactive approach, beginning with the way boards and oversight structures are appointed and run.
According to Warner, political influence has often shaped the composition of boards overseeing public entities, with members chosen largely for party loyalty rather than competence or integrity.
โThere is nothing fundamentally wrong with appointing supporters,โ he acknowledged. โBut those individuals must have the capacity, the right attitude, integrity and ethics to perform effectively. Directors are not there just to fill slots โ they carry a fiduciary responsibility by law.โ
He stressed that poor governance at the top ultimately filters down through entire organisations, undermining accountability and effective management of public resources.
โIf we do not fix the problem at the top, this inherent risk will continue from generation to generation,โ Warner cautioned.
The consultant urged successive governments, regardless of party, to treat corporate governance as more than a slogan, insisting it must be โimplemented and practised from the topโ to safeguard the countryโs financial systems.
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My, my, my!!! Send this financial consultant Mr Kem Warner to the top of the ‘economic’ class. ๐๐พ
Many of the ABLP’s decisions on economic and financial matters always seems to be based on popularity, leaks in the media and a reactive basis; that’s way more riskier than a steadfast, proactive and long-term decision making.
I’ve yet to come across anyone unqualified in finance – especially as.it does in the political arena – make any significant monetary headway for their country/countries.
They tend to create much more DEBT from borrowing, than any vast amount of CREDIT.
Running our economy isn’t about a popularity contest, but should be based on placing the right qualified personnel in place who’ll keep Antigua’s finance growing steadily instead of this constant high risk and high stakes gambling with our taxes (as we are currently witnessing with Prime Minister Browne’s Jolly Beach Resort investment).
As Mr Warner mentioned earlier in his critique:
“Antigua and Barbuda faces serious challenges in managing public funds…”
Some of those people Warner spoke about reminds me of Faithful National #1 and they are in both parties. Sungu no better than Lungu
Over the years and with successive governments, a weak Public Financial Management system has always left the doors open for people to accuse the sitting government of corruption. We have done very little to strengthen our laws and processes in order to minimize even the simplest semblance of corruption and skulduggery. International standards exist for transparency and accountability and for public financial management but we have not seen it fit to adapt reforms aimed at improving transparency.