Opposition addresses non-attendance at Anti-Corruption Seminar

Opposition Members invitation to Anti-Corruption Seminar was sent to their non-operational ‘Gov.ky’ email.

Following a request from Cayman Marl Road to the event organizers, questioning whether the invite was sent, Ms. De borah Bodden, Secretariat of the Standards in Public Life and Anti-Corruption Commissions, responded on 4th June saying, “It is with regret that I have become aware that the ‘save the date’ invitations which were sent to the Honourable Members of the Opposition went to ‘gov.ky’ email addresses. While these accounts appear in the email system, the accounts are not operational. We relied upon these addresses when sending out the emails and I have apologized for this unintended, administrative error.”

Ms. Bodden added, “I take full responsibility for this oversight and have apologized to the Honourable Leader of the Opposition Mr. Arden McLean. I have also asked that Mr. McLean convey my apologies to the wider Opposition Members. This administrative matter is currently being rectified within our central email directory, to remove defunct accounts and to replace them with the active email addresses for the members so that this problem does not persist.”

Mr. McLean, Leader of the Opposition said, “I am grateful to Cayman Marl Road News for reaching out to query the absence of the Opposition, and especially myself, as Leader of the Opposition. After all, our trust in the free press hinges on a commitment to accuracy and integrity in the pursuit of facts. I am therefore grateful to Ms. Bodden for acknowledging not only to Cayman Marl Road News, but other press outlets as well, that the ‘gov.ky’ address used to send the invite to the opposition members is non-operational”.

Mr. Mclean also stated that, "although this mistake resulted in a missed opportunity for the Opposition to be involved in an important discussion on good governance for our country, we want to assure the organizers and the public that this Opposition remains committed to fighting corruption and we fully support the Commission in its efforts”.