“I want to be your servant,” is the phrase echoed by campaign politicians building up to elections.

We have Civil SERVANTS who work for Governments.

We have Governors who are also servants as they work for us.

The one thing in common that makes them servants is we the public pay their salaries, and many get handsome remunerations, too.

“The reason I got into politics is because I wanted to give something back to the community and serve the people.” This was actually said by one of our politicians here.

A very noble sentiment and I firmly believe at the time he said it, he believed it.

Let’s face it none of these people are servants.

We give them fancy titles, too.

“Chief Officer” is one of the top Civil SERVANT positions. But they get much fancier than that.

“Commissioner”.

“Governor” with the added “His/Her Excellency”.

And the one that can irritate the most – “Honourable” that rises to “Right Honourable”.

In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the definition of “SERVANT” is:

“a person who is hired to do household or personal duties such as cleaning and cooking
“ a person who is devoted to or guided by something
“one that serves others ; especially : one that performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer”

None of these apply to any of the self-named servants I have illustrated above.

So why do we call them servants when they are most definitely not? None of them act like servants.

The titled ones all receive bigger salaries than I get. They all drive bigger and better cars than I do. Most fly first or at worse “Business Class” on airlines. Most stay at far fancier hotels than I do.

And I, like you, pay for it.

And when they do their jobs and use our money to obtain expensive reports they then spend our money to go out at all lengths to hide the results from us.

It is not good for the country to tell us. It could be embarrassing to third parties if released.

Even when we have a Freedom of Information Commissioner, paid by us, and he/she rules for us, the so called servant uses our money to fight the decision in the Courts.

We all know the sorry saga relating to Operation Tempura and the millions of dollars wasted and still being wasted on something that was instigated originally by a servant – one of our past governors who we didn’t even elect!

And it looks like it is happening again.

Did any of you read the news report carried by CNS and republished by Caribbean News Now “Cayman Islands governor keeps legal review report secret”.

The story says:

“A report by a UK prosecutor who came to the Cayman Islands earlier this year to review the local criminal justice system will not be made public anytime soon. The governor’s office has refused to release the document by Claire Wetton, which examined the way criminal caseloads are being handled by the crown and the court system.

Cayman News Service (CNS) filed a freedom of information request in June for the project summary of Wetton’s findings but the information manager said the report was “a working document” and the office would consider its release in six months.

“This will allow for free and frank discussion to take place between the relevant agencies, as is provided for in the FOI law,” the information manager at the governor’s office stated.

“CNS has requested an internal review of the decision because of the wide public interest in the workings at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the massive caseloads going through the criminal courts.

Wetton, who is a criminal justice adviser from the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service, came to Cayman for 12 weeks in January. Her remit was to help local officials improve the management of trial cases, review Criminal Procedure Code rules, disclosure and witness care and the prosecution of domestic violence cases, as well as child witnesses and gang related crime.

“The UK prosecutor was also understood to have delivered training to RCIPS officers and assistance to the ODPP Summary Court Team and to the court to deal with the weaknesses in the criminal justice system.

“The refusal of the governor’s office to release Wetton’s early findings and advice comes against the backdrop of the collapse of a high profile gang-related murder case this week. Prosecutors continue to face considerable criticism over a number of issues, from the decisions regarding whether to or not to prosecute and why ill-prepared lawyers are facing massive caseloads.

“Governor Helen Kilpatrick had described her visit as an important project.

‘“Identifying and improving upon procedures which can assist in the smooth and efficient running of the court system is crucial to reducing criminality in the Cayman Islands. I have asked Claire to meet with me on a regular basis to update me personally on the project as it goes forward,” she stated.

“However, the governor appears not to be prepared to update the rest of the territory.”

You can read the whole and well written article at: https://caymannewsservice.com/2015/07/report-on-legal-review-under-wraps/

I am positive not one of these individuals actually look upon themselves as SERVANTS.

None of them act like SERVANTS

Please stop telling us, then, you are.