Earlier this week, the Guardian newspaper reported that more than forty-five thousand dollars went missing from NICH. We asked President Albert Vaughn who confirmed an incident of theft which was never reported publicly but he would not disclose the amount.
He told us, quote, "In…mid 2024...it was discovered that two employees of NICH, who also served on the secretariat of the National Celebrations Commission in 2023 had caused unauthorized withdrawals and payments to made from the NCC's funds.....these unauthorized withdrawals and payments were not made from NICH's funds...a decision was made (by the board) to pursue the two employees to recover the funds...a settlement was reached with the two employees who agreed to reimburse the funds....An agreement was reached for repayment and due to the confidentiality clauses...we are prohibited from disclosing any further information." End quote.
So Vaughan does not disclose the amount nor does he explain why no public accounting was made. But, we note that Celebration Commission funds are public and are much in demand by various municipalities and community groups during the celebration season. Also, from our experience, these funds are often misused for political slush.
