The Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) affirms the understanding that good governance is both a gift from and the will of God and that it is the duty of those who are called to govern to do so with utmost care and discernment. We also affirm the value of time-honoured traditions and conventions pertaining to accountability, transparency, and probity in the mechanisms of governance of our democratic system.

It is the desire of our sovereign God that those who are in Government exercise the full extent of their powers to ensure that the mechanisms of government can stand up to the scrutiny of the people who elected them in the first place.

The JCC therefore expresses concern at the recent announcement by the government to revise the structure of governance with respect to the leadership of several oversight committees of the parliament. The act of removing Opposition members from the leadership of several committees of the Parliament, in our view, runs contrary to the objective of enhancing governance, and the ideal provision of checks and balances, especially within the context of an overwhelming parliamentary majority.

The JCC therefore calls on the Government to revisit its decision to change the leadership arrangements for the oversight committees and to retain and strengthen the recent mechanism of appointing Opposition members to lead these committees. This will help to engender collaboration, minimise cynicism and safeguard the integrity of the parliamentary system.

In view of the Government’s charge to remove corruption which has historically challenged Jamaica’s governance structure, accountability, transparency, and probity are principles which must be encouraged and consideration given for them to be constitutionally enshrined.

We trust that the Government will reconsider this decision on the oversight committees in order to maintain confidence in the integrity of the Parliament.

Rev Newton G A Dixon is president of the Jamaica Council of Churches. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or presidentatjcc@gmail.com.