Cabinet briefs, they've been a trade mark of the Musa administration. Ever since 1998, it was a manifesto promise that the PUP made to grant greater transparency in governance. Of course, we've come so far since then with the regular revelation of government's secret documents that Cabinet briefs have emerged as a usually unremarkbale, totally tepid, often tedious and thoroughly sanitized rendering of what the country's 13 most powerful men and woman discuss at their Tuesday meetings. But no more!
Today the Minister of Information unveiled a "sexed up" version of the Cabinet Brief. No longer just words on a paper, today three of those 13 gave an actual, real life, in the flesh briefing...of that same sanitized briefing. We were there to hear that government is ready for the DFC Commission of Inquiry.
Godfrey Smith, Minister of Information
"The NTUCB was provided with a copy of the statutory instrument setting up the terms of reference for the Commission of Inquiry and naming the commissioners. I believe that today the commissioners should be sworn in and then they should embark on their work. The government and the TUC discussed the matter of the forensic auditor and on that the decision was that government awaits a list of persons that will be submitted by the union from which government will select one person to serve as the forensic auditor. The Ministry of the Public Service along with the Public Service Union will then get together and work on a framework and a time frame for the implementation of Public Service Management Audit that we spoke about. By Friday government will be providing to the unions certified copies of the respective loan portfolios of DFC and SSB by sector as well as they have asked for a report on measures taken by DFC and SSB to collect outstanding monies and that report will also be presented to the union by Friday."
