Sep 2007 Financial News

Wehby resigns from GraceKennedy

Sep 21, 2007

Don Wehby yesterday resigned from GraceKennedy in a move that will likely end the controversy ignited by his appointment as a minister in the Government on secondment from the private sector firm that said it would pay him a portion of his salary.

WEHBY. was under pressure to cut ties with GraceKennedy
In a release issued yesterday, the Government said that Wehby's resignation would take effect September 30.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding said Wehby, who had previously resigned his directorships with the company, had taken this latest decision "to remove any appearance of conflict of interest which his continued relationship with GraceKennedy might cause".

Golding also expressed his gratitude to Wehby for his "willingness to serve as a Cabinet minister".

Golding had named Wehby, the COO of GraceKennedy's Financial Services Division, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service in the new Cabinet which was sworn in last Friday.

The appointment has been widely praised by private sector leaders, but the Government's political opponents said the fact that GraceKennedy would pay Wehby a portion of his salary could create a conflict of interest for the young businessman.

Although the critics did not question Wehby's integrity, they suggested that he should sever all ties with GraceKennedy.

Last night, minister of finance and the public service, Audley Shaw, said that Wehby's resignation from GraceKennedy should remove all doubt of a conflict of interest in his appointment.

"We feel it is a right decision and we applaud his patriotism, his courage and the fact that he has put his country ahead of his own personal interest," Shaw said.

Yesterday, Radio Jamaica carried an interview with former People's National Party minister of industry and commerce, R Danny Williams, in which he admitted that he was paid by his former employer, Life of Jamaica, while serving in the Michael Manley administration in the 1970s.

Williams noted that the issue did not arise as a conflict of interest then, and that he returned to Life of Jamaica after completing his assignment.

"I think the time has come where, what we need to do is to have the Government and the PSOJ (Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica) sit down and set up some terms under which people can move from the private sector and, indeed, from the public sector to the private sector on secondment," Williams said. "We need it because we must benefit when a person from the private sector, with commercial experience, is able to join the Government and give them the benefit of their experience."

Williams said that he "personally" had no concerns about Wehby operating in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service under the terms of his agreement with GraceKennedy.


Source:
BALFORD HENRY
The Jamaica Observer
Friday, September 21, 2007

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070920T200000-0500_127583_OBS_WEHBY_RESIGNS_FROM_GRACEKENNEDY.asp