into a Cooks nightmare

With love, from China, turns into a Cooks nightmare

By Usa Williams

Take an aid-donated $35,000 car, a tax-payer footed registration bill, and a highly placed niece eager to please, and you have all the ingredients of the latest political embarrassment to hit Cook Islands Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Henry.

With the General Election almost around the comer and many Cook Islanders still connecting economic reality with their voting papers, the ‘China Car’ saga might be just the thing political rivals need to do some point-scoring.

For many Cook Islanders, the details of the investigation - into how a vehicle ended up as the personal property of Geoffrey Henry - have not yet begun to sink in.

The People of China donated the car to the People of the Cook Islands for the South Pacific Forum. There are questions of why a highly paid official should accept a $ 12,000 cheque as payment for a $35,000 car, without tendering the vehicle for sale or even making clear the details of the transfer.

As it was, the PM’s car became the China Car in October last year, when local media ran details of tax-payer paid regis tration papers of the three silver-grey pre miere vehicles.

Two were registered to protocol ser vices, headed by the prime Minister’s niece Kopu Brown, and a third was registered in the name of Geoffrey Henry.

It took Opposition artillery a day to fire up, with former Opposition leader Norman George filing a theft complaint against the Prime Minister the very next day.

“These cars are a gift to the nation and the party feels that because they are state assets, the conversion of the car in ques tion under the Prime Minister’s name and ownership amounts to theft,” the Opposition publicity machine had said at the time.

The interviews began, with Police refer ring the case to an already-bogged-down

government-paid Crown Law office.

The Cook Islands first female Cook Islander Solicitor General was to come under scathing criticism from local media thirsting for a quick resolution to the case, which was to drag on for seven months.

Continual calls were made for the Prime Minister to step down or resign because of the theft allegations. Sir Geoffrey respond ed “can’t wait” when asked how he was coping with the pressure of mounting criti cism and anxiety over the long wait.

Once the police commissioner released the legal opinion to local media, the solici tor-general opened up as well, ending her stance of silence over the investigation period and the wait for an outside opinion.

Janet Maki, like John Upton QC, did not leave the ethics of the issue ignored.

In a comment plainly levelled at the Prime Minister and Kopu Brown, who is also a key component of his political ranks, Maki says, “time and again I would say to myself ‘this would never have happened had proper procedure been followed. I trust that those involved have not leamt a hard lesson, to respect that procedures are put in place for a reason, and that the old days of ‘informal arrangements’ are truly over.”

Warning enough for the duo? There has

not been an official interview following the ‘can’t wait’ comment, with Sir Geoffrey likely to plead no time and the demands of the upcoming budget as his defence.

His niece may yet need to call on the same loyalties that got them both into the mess - though cabinet approves her posi tion as Head of Ministry for Internal Affairs, it is still a Public Service Commission job, with clear responsibili ties and duties.

A week after the New Zealand QC said it would not advise taking the case to court, PSC went back to Crown Law to seek the Solicitor Generals’ opinion on other aspects of the case.

Maki has to weigh up aspects of Brown’s performance contract - aspects that tie the magic words transparency and

accountability into the job.

She will have to recommend whether Brown has been negligent in the execution of her duties (for getting the registration changed for a state asset and aiding in its conversion to a personal asset; by using a Treasury cheque to pay the bill; and by not using established tender methods).

Opposition leader Maoate said: “ I fear that the message going out to our youth from this whole sorry episode is to get away with what you can - and if you get caught, go back, and try to cover your tracks.” ■

Slr Geoffr[?]y Henry has been caught up in the Chins Car scandal.