Bush calls for public inquiry into DPP and CoP
(CNS): Following his acquittal on historic rape charges on Monday, veteran politician McKeeva Bush MP called for a public commission of inquiry into the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the Office of the Commissioner of Police. He said the inquiry was needed, not just because of the failed cases against him but also because of other prosecutions that should never have reached the courts.
After yesterday’s verdict, the judge told Bush he could leave the dock as he was “forever cleared” of the charges in the case. But before he stepped out of the courtroom, Bush announced that he would be calling for the commission of inquiry and wanted the prosecutor who presented the case against him to be a subject of that inquiry.
Eloise Marshall KC, who is based in the UK, was instructed by the ODPP to avoid the potential issue of bias. She stated during the trial that she had no connection to local politics and was therefore more able to prosecute the case objectively than someone living here.
But the former premier and speaker has implied that the UK has used the offices of the CoP and DPP to deliberately target him. When he took the stand during the trial, Bush suggested that the prosecutors had put the victim in this case up to it. He also contends that he is not the only person to have been improperly charged for crimes he did not commit by the current and previous DPP.
Outside the courthouse, as Bush spoke to the local media about the motion he plans to take to parliament to call for the public inquiry, he made it clear that he believes he has been deliberately targetted by the authorities for many years, and that he is not alone.
“It is time for this persecution to stop… and this didn’t just happen to McKeeva, you know,” he said, adding that there were far too many cases brought by the DPP that he believes have fallen short of the required legal standard.
Bush has drafted a private member’s motion that will be seconded by Chris Saunders MP (BTE), who currently sits as an independent on the opposition benches. Bush said he plans to bring this motion at the next meeting of parliament, which was postponed as a result of Hurricane Beryl.
He said the DPP was spending money — which he has to vote for — on poor cases that the office ended up losing. Reading the motion to the press outside the courthouse, he said that there was “tremendous concern about corruption in the DPP office”, which was illustrated by the cases being prosecuted.
Bush added that there was “widespread alarm and grief in the belief of an unholy, inappropriate and illegal connection with the DPP… the governor’s office, the commissioner of police and some police officers with their practices, processes and abuses”. As a result, he called for parliament to order an independent, fully funded commission that would report its findings to the premier’s office.
Although he sits on the government’s backbench, Bush said that he had not yet discussed the motion with Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly. He said he was going to table it, and then the House can do what it wants with it.
“But I am going to have my say on it and what my belief is,” he said, stressing that his concern was not with the courts or the judiciary but with the last three governors, Stuart Jack, Duncan Taylor and Martyn Roper, and their inappropriate interference with prosecutors and the police.
“We have to have proper prosecuting services in this country, and this office of the DPP is not that. We are at the will of somebody else,” Bush added.
Despite the legal issues that Bush has dealt with this year, his previous conviction for assault in 2020, and his previous declarations that he would not be running for office in the 2025 elections, when CNS asked him if he would stand in the 2025 elections, he did not say no categorically. He said that while his family no longer wanted him to run and he thinks he is unlikely to do so, he did not rule out the possibility.
Bush said he will hold a meeting on the proposed public inquiry at the ALT parking lot in George Town at 8:00pm on Thursday night and a second meeting in West Bay on Saturday night at Ebanks Road Park in his West Bay West constituency.
Watch McKeeva Bush read out his proposed PMM about the commission of inquiry below:
See full coverage of the Bush trial below:
- Bush found not guilty in historic rape case
- Bush not immune from prosecution, says crown
- ‘A bunch of you put her up to this’ Bush tells prosecutor
- ‘The truth will come out’ Bush told police when charged
- Witness says she did not ‘make up’ Bush rape allegation
- Bush raped woman in mangrove clearing, crown tells jury
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
A public inquiry demanded by a man who has of his own volition destroyed his own reputation over the past 10 years – which if undertaken would be held, heard and run by other MPs who all have interests in themselves not being investigated and or charged with offences where appropriate
Up next: Local consortium of thieves demand neighbourhood watch and police response to address stunning rise in theft
Bush might not be immune from prosecution, but he has yet to see a competent review of his actions, and behaviour. Still no ACC investigation of his discretionary $10mln Nation Building Fund, even as Juju approves her own $20mln reboot last December. The Cayman Islands is corrupt, and it’s up to the ACC to demonstrate that there are credible public watchdogs.
ACC can’t detect a bad smell in a fart factory! I wouldn’t hang your hat up there!
mac..what is the investigation going to do?…
how may reports into the civil service have you ignored over the last 30 years????
Well, if it’s a persecution they are doing an awful job of it. It’s difficult to understand how that case managed to cross the “reasonable prospect of conviction ” hurdle. As for politically determined decisions to prosecute, let’s also look at the decisions NOT to – a completely independent investigation into the operation of the RCIPS and DPP on politically sensitive cases would be really interesting.
As long as it’s trial by jury, he will never be convicted of anything.
That applies to many, particularly “sons of the soil”.
What about the case that a man took his truck knocked down another man then runned over him with his truck got out and kicked him in his head, and the Jury let him off free for self defence. what a big mess Cayman has come to. it seem they love crime.
Smoke and mirrors….don’t tell me Mac has fooled all of you.
If it had been revealed that the DPP had not prosecuted this case you would be screaming for accountability and cover up.
It seems that Mr Bush has never ever done anything wrong, and that all his accusers , over many years of alleged misdeeds , are simply stooges for the FCO, The Governor and political opponents determined to damage the reputation of this fine upstanding paragon of virtue.
MI6 quietly sending a message via the governor to the DPP to make it go away and the easiest way? Just fake incompetence.
Honorable Bush, please get your team to lead us to complete independence so we can rid ourselves to these bullies. You are a great man so you can be our first Prime Minister.
LOLOLOLOL
WTF??? You must be one of his Status Grant Recipient Disciples (SGRD)
Saunders and Kenneth are working on that..Mac is involved as a consultant.
They’re all,itching to get their hands on the cash register like a bunch of African despots…only Independence will let them do that.
There should be an independent investigation into his affairs!
That are so intertwined with others? Status grants would be a great place to look.
I have no problem with an inquiry into the ODPP but I would rather have one into corrupt local politicians – free condos, million dollar ‘donations’, etc
He just needs to go away…forever…
Spend your own money if you think they need investigating.
They have been abusing the power of the office for well over the last score (20 years). They are corrupt and inept and in serious need of prosecution themselves. I aint no Mckeeva and what they did to me still sours my mouth. They need to be held accountable and some of them arrested for crimes against human rights.
LTD da Unboozler
Perhaps what needs to be said truthfully is that, we are subjected to judicial mishandling by the Judicial JA Mafia. is there a Master plan afoot. look out for the next episode of “Cayman Mistrials” coming soon to Dart Theatres Camana Bay.
its just civil service incompetence….nothing new to see here.
just another day in wonderland.
Teflon Donut!
What I see happenin’….
To be honest, after the reading about the previous acquittal from last month (below), I’m inclined to agree that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions probably needs to be looked at.
https://caymannewsservice.com/2024/06/road-rage-killer-walks-free-after-jury-acquits/
That’s down to the jury, not the DPP.
Its the prosecution that needs to present a viable case. In this case, the prosecution clearly bungled an open and shut case.
But yes, the impartiality of the juries in Cayman is a whole different problem.
How so? To me, that outcome was more an indication of the higher probability of a jury acquitting, regardless of evidence presented. I suspect it’s due to a fundamental misunderstanding on the part of various jurors as to the threshold of doubt that would warrant making that decision, rather than any particular failures from the prosecutor.
The same was true with the acquittal over the misappropriation of fill in North Side from the NHDT site. We have too many jurors that stretch well beyond “reasonable”.
So ow the DPP has to aim off for possible bias or stupidity on the part of the jury, rather than whether a crime has been committed.?
Agreed – there are clear arguments that the jury system in Cayman is not fit for purpose.