Former ‘Tempura’ governor dies at age 72
(CNS): Stuart Duncan Macdonald Jack (1949-2022), who served as the governor of the Cayman Islands between 2005 and 2009, has died. According to official statements released by the offices of the governors and the premier, the sad news was passed on to the London Office by Jack’s daughter.
Jack was the first governor to break with several traditions, start an online blog and oversaw the drafting of the 2009 Constitution. He also made the decision to open the infamous Operation Tempura corruption investigation.
In statements about Jack’s death, Governor Martyn Roper and Premier Wayne Panton did not mention the controversial probe into police corruption.
Roper said he was “very saddened to hear about the passing of former Governor Stuart Jack CVO”.
He added, “Governor Jack said that facilitating the modernised Constitution was the highlight of his four years in the Cayman Islands. In informing us, Mr Jack’s daughter said Mr Jack had developed a deep fondness, for the Cayman Islands and the people of Cayman. On behalf of everyone in the Cayman Islands I send my deepest condolences to Governor Jack’s family and friends at this sad time.”
Meanwhile, Panton noted Jack’s part in modernising the role after breaking with the established tradition of wearing the governor’s ceremonial white uniform and hat, ushering in the modern era for subsequent governors.
“It was during Mr Jack’s final year as governor that the modernised Constitution was approved by the people of the Cayman Islands in the first ever national referendum,” said Panton. “This achievement, of which he was justly proud, was the culmination of years of effort by the elected government and civil society, supported by the Office of the Governor.”
He added, “On behalf of the Government and people of the Cayman Islands, I extend heartfelt sympathies to Mr Jack’s family.”
During his time here Jack clashed with elected officials on many occasions on a number of issues, from the controversial Tempura probe to the government’s management of public finances.
Jack retired from the diplomatic service after he left the Cayman Islands, which was his last posting in a long career with the Foreign Office that began in 1972. He served largely in Russia and Japan and was at one time seconded to the Bank of England in the mid-1980s.
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@12:55 absolutely correct and it was also buried by another platform that, on the other hand, takes delight at demonizing and scandalizing others, including their private lives! The debacle of Tempura was the second biggest ill-advised decision and debacle next to Euro Bank and should not be buried in a footnote and running with the white-washed press release!
The Cayman taxpayers were the loser and the many lives and careers ruined and the stain left on the Cayman Islands!
8:57 am: thank you. While no one wants to speak ill of the dead, it would really be adding insult to injury to heap praise upon someone who triggered a massive injustice to people and institutions. Jack was never held accountable while innocent people are still feeling the pain of his bumbling mismanagement and ultimate reprehensible refusal to admit his involvement and failures. I imagine that could not have been easy to live with.
12:55 am: yes, we did once have a governor whom the FCO punished for a situation in his private life, but an incompetent governor who failed in his duty to the Cayman Islands and to his office and to exercise basis integrity was never held accountable.
At least he tried thats more than I can say for the current enabler in that office? Rest In Peace Stuart Jack my condolences to his wife and family.
a man who tried to tackel the systemic corrution at higher levels in cayman …rip.
He was foolishly fighting windmills. He was completely misguided on Tempura. It cost the country millions and ruined lives. I thank CNS for pointing this out high in their story. The Compass buried the lead and gave just a weak mention in the last line of its article.
10:35 am: you are ill informed my friend. Stop generalizing without the facts.
10:25 am: When did he do that?
Anyone who comes here and tries or attempts to look into or investigate the ingrained systemic corruption that permeates through our social and economic and political pig pen society will always fail and be made into a villain., But at least he tried and wasn’t complicit as we see nowadays. His problem was Complaints were just as corrupt as the defendants! As well those who were charged with overseeing the investigation for the FCO. A no win situation for both Governor Jack and Cayman !
Catcha Fire, you know not of which you speak.
Tempura was a failed investigation—the Metropolitan Police went home with their tails between their legs because the whole thing evolved from a governor who denied that he had approved the action that the commissioner of police took and which he was empowered to take. The Cayman Government in the end had to pay millions in damages to people like then commissioner Kernohan.
In their own words the UK Metropolitan Police said that,?had they known that, the whole basis for the investigation would have dissolved and they would have packed up and went home.
The Metropolitan Police were obviously out of their depth in terms of how to decipher what was really going on and the weight to give to the claims of certain witnesses.
In the meantime a lot of innocent people and institution were besmirched.
You need to research the newspaper accounts of the subsequent court hearings.
So please stop it. While I sympathise with his family on his passing, the story of Jack is a lot about the untouchability of the British Colonial ruling class and their lack of basic integrity—it was NOT about trying to stop so-called corruption.
The record of Tempura speaks for itself.
CNS: The documents in the CNS Library offer a comprehensive overview of Tempura.
11:05
‘Had they known that, the whole basis for the investigation would have dissolved and they would have packed up and went home,’ was what Martin Bridger tried to claim after the whole investigation went belly up. The truth is slightly different. His team was told in October or November 2007 that the whole thing had hit a dead end but he’d already spotted that driving it on was potentially going to be a nice little earner as he was only a few months off retirement.
Do you know what he did with some of the money he walked away with after Stuart Jack finally wised up and fired him in 2009? He bought five condos in Orlando, Fla. That’s where our money went.
10:10 am: “wasn’t complicit”?? The debacle of Tempura never resulted in any revelation except that we had a Governor at the helm of the decision making apparatus who was completely out of his depth. It was first class mismanagement. The sad truth was that no one was held accountable, including and especially Jack, for the damage inflicted on persons and institutions.
He went on to collect his cushy pension—sad how the FCO never penalized him in any way for dereliction of duty, etc. etc.
Very sad to hear of his death. May his soul rest in peace.
I am sorry to hear that he has passed on. No doubt he made significant contributions, but Tempura was his downfall and it is what many will most associate his time here.
Despite his all powerful status, he obviously did not believe that the buck stopped at his desk, allowing as he did some people to be hung out to dry. I shall not remember that—and the ignominy he necessarily brought on the Cayman Islands—with much sympathy.
In the interest of full disclosure I was not a fan from the way he treated me as a senior civil servant during his tenure. However, it is not a burden I carry around. I have long shook it off and moved on.
2:24 m correction; Should have been “unnecessarily”. Typo.
22 @ 2:24pm – Actually, if not for the media references to Tempura, many people MIGHT not have associated Gov. Jack to that fiasco. For me personally, there have been so many Governors since, I didn’t even remember who presided over Tempura.
I bet there are MANY like me. But I guess he can’t escape his legacy. RIP.
6:57 pm: persons who lived through that painful episode and were half paying attention could not have escaped the association with the late governor.
The whole Tempura fiasco, costing the Cayman Islands millions in damages, related costs and reputation injury, could have been prevented by Jack had he been honest and owned up to the fact that he had approved the so-called “break-in” as he could and did under his powers. The investigation simply would not have happened. A lot of people were unnecessarily hurt, in some cases irretrievably.