Opinion: Why Isn't The Electoral Commission of Jamaica Requiring That Contributions To Politically-Connected Foundations Be Declared?
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As of March 7, political parties and candidates would have been able to start accepting campaign donations for Jamaica’s next general election due by September 2025.
According to the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2016 (ROPA), not only are all candidates required to report contributions and expenditures of their campaigns, but contributors who donate $250,000 (US$1,728) or more or those who get government contracts at or above $500,000 (US$3,456) must also make a declaration.
However, the published guidance from the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) on March 4 merely stated that contributors are required to declare contributions “to a political party or candidate” without extending this requirement to the foundations of candidates or political parties.
This omission is concerning because since 2023, 18º North has been sounding the alarm that such foundations - often bearing charitable names - could be used as a loophole to bypass these reporting requirements.
For the 2020 general election - the first one where strict requirements for reporting contributions came into play - the ECJ stated when asked, “None of the candidates or parties listed any foundations in their disclosure reports.”
And yet, in an interview early in 2023, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett conceded that “very little” of his East Central Scholarship and Welfare Fund was used for political purposes. When reminded about that conversation and asked months later on August 14, 2023 how much was set aside for that use, he said in a WhatsApp message he didn’t recall, “but we don’t really use that source for campaigns.” He continued, “I don’t have the exact amount but believe me it must have been inconsequential as the fund doesn’t have enough to use for campaigns.” His foundation raised $29.6 million (US$204,537) and spent $24 million (US$166,289) mostly on scholarships, according to the financials filed at the Companies Office for 2020, the last general election year.
In July 2024, 18º North was also able to show how the tax-exempt foundation of then Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke, Growth and Opportunity Trust Limited, took in more than $91 million (US$631,644) from unexplained sources between its inception in 2018 and 2023, and most of that money was raised and spent during election years. (He publicly described the foundation as “my foundation” even after resigning as a director in February 2020.)
While this is not proof that the foundation was, in fact, used for election purposes, observers agree that there’s enough information about its fundraising and spending trends to warrant scrutiny.
And yet, the ECJ told 18º North “it is not within our remit to monitor donations to charities registered to politicians.” Other government agencies also gave a similar response.
The lack of monitoring of politician-linked foundations creates a black hole ripe for exploitation, according to former Political Ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown, who spoke with 18º North in 2022.
“It opens a door for a person who is intending to breach the integrity requirements of the Jamaican law,” she said.
Even if the money is going toward charitable purposes in a constituency, donors to these kind of foundations may still be expecting political favors.
At the very least, therefore, there should be a mechanism where Jamaicans should be able to learn whether contributors to these foundations are also the ones getting government contracts.
Size and Scope
In summer 2022 for a special series on politicians and their non-profits, an 18º North team researched and found more than 40 non-profits where the member of parliament was a director or the non-profit was named for a MP.
But unlike Clarke’s Growth and Opportunity Trust that was registered at the Department of Co-operatives and Friendly Societies (DCFS) as a tax-exempt charity, which, theoretically, subjects it to more scrutiny because the DCFS is supposed to carry out audits, most of the others, like Bartlett’s, are only registered at the Companies Office of Jamaica, which means they’re not tax-exempt, and so their activities appear to be going mostly unchecked. The Companies Office told 18º North that save and except items like checking that the financials are duly signed and certified and that the company’s name on the filing matches the one on file, “we do not check for accuracy.”
Of the more than 40 non-profits linked to MPs, one, Grenbell Trust, was incorporated in 1975 explicitly in part to aid in any elections run by the Jamaica Labour Party. There were also 14 named for a MP’s designated area or constituency.
However, since 18º North’s reporting began, three of the 14 - linked to Minister of National Security Dr. Horace Chang, Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton, and Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic, Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for Works, Robert Morgan - have since been removed from the register of companies either because the entity requested it, saying it never traded or had ceased trading, and/or following letters from the Companies Office inquiring whether they were still in business.
Here’s a list of the eleven remaining ones linked to ten MPs. Two of the foundations still make the list and are worth monitoring even though the MP has since resigned as a director:-
Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness - No longer a director. (JLP)
West Central Saint Andrew TrustOpposition Leader Mark Golding (PNP)
Greater Trench Town Foundation Ltd.Minister of Finance and the Public Service Fayval Williams (JLP)
St. Andrew Eastern Development Foundation Ltd.*Opposition Spokesperson on Finance and the Public Service Julian Robinson (PNP)
(S E S A F ) South East St. Andrew Development FoundationMinister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Daryl Vaz (JLP)
West Portland Development Fund Ltd.Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett (JLP)
East Central Scholarship and Welfare Fund Ltd.Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr. (JLP)
Build SEC Development Fund Ltd.MP Michelle Charles (JLP)
East St. Thomas Trust Ltd.MP Lester Michael Henry - No longer a director (JLP)
Clarendon Central Social Development Foundation Trust Ltd.MP Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert (JLP)
South Trelawny Basic Schools Association Ltd.
South Trelawny Edu-Skills Centre Ltd.
Paid subscribers can unlock an even fuller list of foundations linked to politicians by clicking on the button below.
What does the law say about requiring declarations of donations to foundations?
The Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, as is, defines donations and contributions more broadly than just those made directly to a candidate or political party.
One definition of donation, for example, is any sponsorship provided to or “for the benefit of” a candidate or a registered political party. One definition of contribution is a donation “made to a group or an organization that is acting in support of a registered political party or a candidate."
But when the ECJ was asked whether those references in the existing legislation mean that it should already be requiring declarations of donations made to the foundations of political candidates, the entity didn't respond.
My View…and Bartlett’s
I believe declarations of contributions to foundations linked to candidates should be mandatory. The information collected should then be shared immediately with the Integrity Commission (IC) so it can be cross-checked against the IC’s database of all government contracts awarded and the findings should then be made PUBLIC.
Better yet, all donors and donations should be made public so we, the public, can do our own assessments and help the accountability process along.
Currently, even though the ECJ knows the identity of the donors who make contributions directly to candidates or political parties, that information isn’t shared with the public. Additionally, information submitted to the IC’s database of government contracts since the third quarter of 2020 has also been withheld from the public because of an interpretation of the IC’s law, and that shouldn't be the case.
Even Minister Bartlett, when asked, had to agree that the ECJ should “perhaps” have an interest in monitoring contributions to these foundations.
“I don't think MPs conflate their charitable work with political campaigning,” he said, but sometimes the lines get “blurred” giving out welfare to constituents during the campaign period. So, “it might be for good order” that candidates be required to report contributions to their foundations, he said.
This isn’t a small deal. The ECJ needs to respond. Greater transparency and accountability are needed in Jamaica’s political financing system.
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Reporting contributed by Isa Ridgard (deceased), Damario Patterson and Andrew McDaniel.
Editor’s Note:
*In 2024, the Companies Office wrote to Julian Robinson’s (S E S A F ) South East St. Andrew Development Foundation more than once asking if it was still carrying on business, and on December 23, 2024 it warned the company that it would be struck off from the register of companies in three months, which would have expired earlier in March 2025. However, the company is still listed as “Active” on the Companies Office website, hence why it was included in the list of foundations linked to politicians.
Exchange rate used is J$144.67:US$1, which is the average of the average yearly exchange sell rates found on the Bank of Jamaica’s website between 2018 and 2023, the years covering the financials lodged at the Companies Office for Growth and Opportunity Trust Limited. For simplicity, this rate is also used for other conversions.
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