By Harold Lovell

As Antigua and Barbuda celebrates 44 years of Independence, we must ask a hard question: Are we standing on solid ground, or quietly sinking under the weight of corruption and moral decay?

Our forebears proudly built this nation on courage and conviction. During our Independence celebrations, I highlighted the legacy of former Premier George Walter and the PLM Cabinet, leaders who governed with integrity and moral clarity. Even when accused, Walter faced the law head-on. He was convicted, then cleared, because truth was allowed to prevail. He paid a heavy price for his honesty, but ultimately upheld the moral standard of leadership. That is what governance with moral authority looks like. Sadly, today, we have drifted far from that standard.

The Gaston Browne administration dragged members of the UPP, including myself, before the courts over three donated school buses. The case collapsed for lack of evidence, yet Browne refiled the charges and referenced these trumped up charges for years, as proof of integrity. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, with the “chain gang” scandal, he refuses to allow the facts to see daylight.

For the past two weeks, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has twisted logic into knots to dodge an independent forensic investigation into a scandal involving more than 200 vehicles and millions of dollars. Instead, he now proposes a so-called “Restitution Fund,” as if money can replace public trust.

Restitution without revelation is a cover-up in disguise. You cannot manage what you refuse to measure. You cannot fix what you will not face and you cannot restore trust, while hiding behind smoke and mirrors.

The ABLP administration attacks those who demand accountability, yet shields those who abuse public trust. Recent verbal assaults on our only living National Hero, Sir Vivian Richards, for simply joining the call for transparency, are reprehensible. If this culture of intimidation and spin continues, our Independence celebrations will become hollow, like a flag without purpose and an anthem without pride.

Too many questions remain unanswered. Too many hands remain unclean. And still, this administration wants to dip into our Social Security funds to gamble on Jolly Beach Resort, risking the people’s future to cover its own failures. That is not innovation; it is institutional recklessness and this administration cannot be trusted.

We will never be SOLID, STABLE, and SOARING if we continue down this path of unaccountability. We will become SHALLOW, SHAKEN and SINKING.

Independence means raising the standard, and raising it boldly, to demand that truth, not politics, prevails. Because when truth falls silent, nations fall with it.

Let us rise as one people to demand an independent forensic investigation. Let us stand together in love, unity and integrity, so that the truth may prevail, leading to a stronger, fairer Antigua and Barbuda that we can all proudly salute.