Coi made a spectacle of all of
Opposition legislator Ronnie Skelton said the 2021 Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the Virgin Islands turned elected leaders into a public display, leaving the public with a distorted view of even...
Opposition legislator Ronnie Skelton said the 2021 Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the Virgin Islands turned elected leaders into a public display, leaving the public with a distorted view of events. Speaking during the House of Assembly debate on the Constitutional Review Commission Report, Skelton criticised how the COI was carried out. “The COI report, the COI Commission of Inquiry came here and made a public spectacle of all of us,” Skelton said.
He described the hearings as theatre, comparing them to dramatic scenes in films. “The picture, the antics, the image of a clearer complexion sitting up here drilling… like an African, what we used to see in the African movies. But they just take a snapshot in time, and that was it, and our people believed that,” he said.
Skelton admitted that not all of the blame lay with the inquiry. “What happened is some of it was our fault,” he explained, noting that internal failures had left gaps. But he insisted the approach taken by the inquiry overshadowed those issues. “They have huge problems where they are.
But because we have no say in some of the matters, this is what happened to us,” Skelton argued. The Commission of Inquiry, led by Sir Gary Hickinbottom, was launched in 2021 by then-Governor John Rankin. It examined allegations of poor governance, corruption, and misuse of public funds.
Its final report contained 45 recommendations, including reforms to procurement, political finance, and public service management. The report triggered the United Kingdom’s threat to impose direct rule through an Order in Council, a move strongly resisted by local leaders. Instead, an agreement was reached to implement the reforms under local governance, overseen by a monitoring framework.
Earlier this week, UK Minister for Overseas Territories Stephen Doughty confirmed that the Order in Council would be lifted, saying that the Virgin Islands had made “significant progress” on governance reforms. Skelton pointed to the wide-ranging nature of the recent constitutional review, noting that 57 recommendations were made, informed by over 200 oral and 73 written submissions.
He highlighted that contributions came from a cross-section of society. “I see people there who just came in on contract two or three years ago making their recommendation,” he said. Despite disagreements, Skelton emphasised that constitutional reform must reflect the will of Virgin Islanders. “Changes in the constitution should be requested by the people of the country.
When you’re going to put yourself inside of it and appoint who you want and who you think and that kind of stuff, that’s wrong,” he insisted. He warned that without greater self-determination, the territory could continue to face similar interventions in the future.
Primary source: BVI News