9 September 2022: The Integrity Commission announces the publication of its Report following an investigation into the management and operations of the Marketing and National Importing Board (MNIB) in accordance with the Terms of Reference of the inquiry and related investigations.
The Commission began its inquiry/investigation in August 2018, following the publication of newspaper articles about alleged breaches of the MNIB Act, allegations of misappropriation of funds and conflict of interest.
The inquiry/investigation was stalled on 2 occasions by litigation brought by former Chief Executive Officer Ruel Edwards, in the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The Commission prevailed on both occasions as the Judgment of His Lordship Justice Godfrey Smith in favour of the Commission was upheld.
In completing its inquiry/investigation, and in keeping with international investigative procedures, 2 versions of the Report were prepared: a full Report and a redacted version.
The full Report is to be used for follow-up investigation by law enforcement and the implementation of its recommendations by collaborating agencies and officers. It includes sensitive information that may require further investigation.
The redacted Report has the same content except for the sensitive information.
During its inquiry/investigation, the Commission found, in summary:
- On review of some of MNIB’s Financial and Operational Reports, as well as Reports from MNIB’s independent auditor, it was determined that MNIB was poorly managed
- MNIB did not keep its books of accounts in a way that is sufficient to record and explain the transactions, and to enable its financial position to be determined with reasonable accuracy at any time
- Although the Board Minutes and Reports of the MNIB seem to suggest there was active discussion and planning around improvements aimed at benefiting the producers/farmers, the farmers nevertheless generally felt disenfranchised and dissatisfied
- The lack of cooperation from the Management of the MNIB with the auditors resulted in significant delays in the preparation and submission of the annual Audited Reports to the Ministry of Finance for onward transmission to Parliament
- The circumstances surrounding the issues of non-payments/delayed payments were due to cash flow issues exacerbated by the garnishing of MNIB’s account as a result of its court matter with CSME Commodity Traders Ltd.
- There was stark variance between the information contained in the Board Minutes and the sentiments expressed by the farmers. The Board Minutes indicated that there were discussions around paying greater attention to the grading of products in order to reduce spoilage. However, the inquiry/investigation did not find evidence of the implementation of any strategy to address spoilage in general, save and except a Standard of Soursop document dated sometime in 2015
The Commission recommended a full independent forensic examination, under the direction of the Department of Audit, into MNIB’s financial operations for the period of the Commission’s inquiry/investigation or a focused investigation for this period on the areas specifically identified in the Report.
This inquiry/investigation, findings and recommendations, have set the precedent and benchmarks for the integrity and anti-corruption systems of Grenada in keeping with international law and best practices.
This will positively benefit the management of all public bodies, particularly statutory bodies through a blueprint that addresses the risks and circumstances that are conducive to corruption, and for better management of entities by their Boards and Managers.
Office of The Integrity Commission
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2018 to 2022 and there are no criminal charges. How is that no one made jail?
How is that managers after managers were allowed to embezzle at the cost of farmers and face criminal liability?
Funny how there are folks who made jail for praedial larceny. MNIB engaged in the biggest praedial larceny scam and no one makes jail.
Is the new government only going to expose corruption or impose stringent policies and enforce laws that makes it harder for those found guilty.
Theft by employment should have a minimum sentence of 5 years. Then again, only the honest thieves that face the blunt.
Collusion and turning a blind eye to corruption should be a crime.
Let me see if I got this right. The MNIB was to submit annual audits to the Min of Finance, there was failure on a regular basis, but business proceeded as usual. Does that sound like the problem is only with the MNIB? Or, does that not indicate greater systemic failure for accountability in the Grenadian government? BTW, it’s 2022. There are off-the-shelf enterprise systems that would go a long way in improving the understanding of MNIB performance.(sales, inventory, account receivables, vendor management, etc.).