Bahamas church council challenges Davis Cabinet picks over gaming links

The Bahamas Christian Council has asked Prime Minister Philip Davis to take another look at the Cabinet appointments of Sebas Bastian and Leslia Miller-Brice, citing worries about their connections to the gaming sector.

In a statement released Wednesday, the council warned that placing the two ministers in Cabinet could create reputational problems for The Bahamas, particularly with international bodies that monitor anti-money laundering standards.

Bastian and Miller-Brice took the oath of office last Saturday. Bastian was appointed minister of innovation and national development, while Miller-Brice was named minister of culture, arts and heritage.

The council referred to sections of the Gaming Act which bar Cabinet ministers, and members of their families, from owning gaming licences or holding major financial stakes in gaming businesses.

According to the Bahamas Christian Council, those rules are meant to protect public office from private financial interests and to guard against improper pressure on regulatory decisions.

“We acknowledge that the ministers in question have indicated that they have satisfied the legal requirements necessary to serve in Cabinet,” the council said. “However, no public evidence has yet been produced that fully resolves the concern held by many citizens.”

The organisation said the broader question is whether the “spirit of the law” has been respected, even if the ministers have complied with the letter of the law.

“The Bahamian people should not be asked to accept what appears to be legal gymnastics crafted to get one over on the law,” the statement added.

The council also noted that the controversy comes as The Bahamas prepares for an October assessment by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force. The regional body reviews countries’ systems for fighting money laundering and terrorist financing.

“The financial services industry is too important to the national economy for the government to ignore any action that may raise unnecessary questions about transparency, regulatory credibility, or the integrity of public decision-making,” the BCC said.

It urged Davis to reconsider the appointments, arguing that the country needs a Cabinet that is “not only legally constituted, but publicly trusted.”

Concerns about the two appointments began soon after the ministers were sworn in. Miller-Brice, the MP-elect for Seabreeze, was not part of Davis’ first administration because of her links to the gaming industry.

Over the weekend, a spokesperson said her husband, Leander Brice, had stepped down as chief executive officer of GLK Limited, the company that operates the Asure Win gaming house, before Miller-Brice entered Cabinet.

The statement said Brice notified the Gaming Board for The Bahamas on May 5 that he intended to resign and cut the related financial interests.

The opposition Free National Movement has also objected to the appointments. It said the issue should go before the courts “so that the law may be clearly interpreted and upheld in the national interest.”