In a letter addressed to the Secretary General of the political party EDE Sterline Civil this Friday, July 26, 2024, the departmental secretaries and deputy departmental secretaries demanded the withdrawal of Smith Augustin, EDE representative on the Presidential Transitional Council due to “legitimate suspicions”. The latter want to avoid any obstruction to the investigation already initiated by the anti-corruption unit (ULCC) on the accusations of corruption of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Credit Bank made against the President-Advisor.
This is a major development in the case of suspected corruption within the transitional presidential council. Smith Augustin, accused of demanding a large sum of money from the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Credit Bank, has been dropped by the executives of the EDE political party.
“We, the Departmental Secretaries and Deputy Departmental Secretaries of the National Political Bureau (BPN) of the party Les Engages pour le Développement (EDE), have taken note of the correspondence from the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Banque Nationale de Crédit (BNC) to Prime Minister Garry Conille dated July 24, 2024, reporting behavior similar to an act of corruption that would involve Councilor-Presidents including our representative, Mr. Smith Augustin,” we can read in the correspondence from the party executives.
Party officials consider the situation to be dishonourable for the Presidential Council of the Transition. “Therefore, to avoid any hindrance to the investigation already initiated by the ULCC and to justice, to restore a climate of trust likely to facilitate the success of the interim period, we demand immediately the withdrawal of Mr. Smith Augustin and his immediate replacement in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement of April 3, 2024,” they write.
The departmental secretaries and deputy departmental secretaries say they are “convinced that the higher interests of the Nation must be above the interests of groups.” “We dissociate ourselves from President-Councillor Augustin because of legitimate suspicions,” they conclude.
Emmanuel Vertilaire and Louis Gérald Gilles are the two other advisor-presidents involved in this affair. The President of the BNC Raoul Pierre-Louis must be heard on July 30 by the ULCC on this matter.
By: Gazette Haiti News