In Unusual Move, Ministry of Health Issues Reaction to IC Report Before It Was Tabled In Parliament
The Ministry of Health & Wellness released its reaction to an Integrity Commission investigation report before it was tabled in the parliament. The report probed alleged conflicts of interest involving the Ministry of Health, Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton and the public relations firm Market Me.
The release of the ministry’s reaction to the un-tabled report raises a question about whether it had received a copy of the investigation prior to it being made public, and how, if yes?
Typically, the report is tabled before the reaction is received, and the Integrity Commission hasn’t yet answered an email as to whether it gave the Health Ministry an advance copy. A call was also not answered.
Timeline
The Integrity Commission had issued a release on Friday, September 26 announcing that it had submitted four investigation reports and three indicative rulings to Parliament for tabling.
This morning, Nationwide News Network (NNN) reported that the subject of one of the un-tabled IC reports was the issue of the contracts issued to Market Me and stated it would be tabled in the Parliament later this afternoon.
The time stamp of the email with the ministry’s reaction to the report was 3:04 p.m. and its release specifically started, “The Ministry takes note of the report from the Integrity Commission (IC) tabled in Parliament earlier today (October 7, 2025) as the culmination of its investigations.”
But when 18º North asked the parliament for the report which had been reportedly “tabled,” the public relations officer Shernette Johnson responded at 3:31 p.m., “The report has not yet been tabled. Once it is tabled, it will be sent out.”
When 18º North asked the Ministry of Health’s representative Petre Williams-Raynor at 3:38 p.m. whether and how the ministry was able to issue a reaction prior to the report being tabled, she asked me to hold off on reporting the ministry’s reaction.
When I said “No, I can’t do that,” she gasped, “Oh My God!”
I asked whether the ministry got the report from the Integrity Commission before it was tabled or from the parliament and she responded, “I can’t comment on that.”
The parliament subsequently issued an email with the tabled documents at 3:50 p.m.
Earlier in the day, the Opposition People’s National Party had issued a release expressing concern about continued leaks to Nationwide News Network (NNN) prior to reports from the IC being officially tabled in Parliament.
The release stated, “Under the Integrity Commission Act, reports are required to be first submitted to Parliament and formally tabled before they are made public. The recurring disclosure of their contents beforehand undermines the authority of Parliament, erodes public confidence in the integrity of the process, and suggests that there is a serious breakdown in the official chain of custody.”
When told about the Ministry of Health's release of its reaction before the report was tabled, Shadow Minister of Information Nekeisha Burchell, responded at 4:50 p.m. saying, “These actions are not merely improper, they are a direct affront to the authority of Parliament and to the laws that govern how official information is to be handled…It is inconceivable that a ministry could respond to a report it had no lawful access to.”
She called for an investigation, “Whether through the Speaker of the House, the Cabinet Secretary, or law enforcement, this matter must be investigated swiftly, and those responsible must be sanctioned. If breaches of this magnitude go unpunished, Parliament itself will lose credibility as the guardian of accountability in our democracy.”
18º North will now go through the IC report and report back. Meantime, here is the release with the contents of the Ministry of Health’s reaction to the IC’s report:
####