Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Aug 22, 2026

BVI Premier Fahie Confident of Commission of Inquiry Vindication

BVI Premier Fahie Confident of Commission of Inquiry Vindication

Premier of the British Virgin Islands Hon. Andrew Fahie is confident that he would be vindicated when the ruling of the Commission of Inquiry is handed down in January.
Premier Fahie, who has been accused by former Governor, Augustus Jaspert of widespread corruption, has vehemently denied the allegation. As a result of Jaspert’s revelation, a sanctioned United Kingdom commission of inquiry was established earlier this year.

The accusations ranged from mismanagement of the British Overseas Territory’s affairs, organized crime, and drug-trafficking.

However, from the onset, Premier Fahie, who is also the finance minister of the BVI, has, in no uncertain terms, rubbished the charges as unfounded and irresponsible.

He asserted that the former British Government representative was careless to have leveled such character-damaging claims, even while failing to use his powers get to the root of the very thing he accused his administration of doing.

Fahie believes that it was a sinister move for Jaspert to scurry to the media to spread what he termed as propaganda, before making an effort to dig into the allegations to prove whether or not they were genuine.

Fahie, as a matter of fact, believes it was the former governor who blatantly displayed scant regard towards fiduciary duties by opening a resource-burdensome commission of inquiry without first considering the debilitating impact it would have on the civil service.

"It poses a heavy challenge on the public officers," Fahie told Politico, further outlining to the publication that the probe's scope has widened to cover virtually every government decision of the past decade. He also accused the British Government of gross overreach.

He said the commission of inquiry all but consumed the entire public service, while yet to prove the existence of government corruption.

The premier elicited that it came as no surprise to him that to date, no specific proof or indication of BVI’s officials’ involvement in such activities has emerged in the public evidence sessions.

Some members of the BVI community, based on the terms of reference of the commission of inquiry, have openly expressed concern that the inquiry commission might recommend a colonial-style power takeover. This they say might mean imposing direct rule from London and husking the territory of its autonomy, which include the right to elect its own government.

The fear is reminiscent of fellow UK overseas territory – the Turks and Caicos Islands - being yanked of its internal powers when it’s constitution was pulled on recommendation of a commission of inquiry. That territory has gone back to internal self-government after a raft of changes by the British.

The UK, in 2009, instituted direct rule on the Turks and Caicos Islands, though the governor, accusing the then government of "a high probability of systematic corruption or serious dishonesty," including receiving kickbacks from investors.

Some members of the BVI community have accused Jaspert of sliding into obscurity after making what they described as such destructive allegations and was now being shielded by the British Government from setting the record straight.

Such sentiment was shared by the premier, who, in an interview with the Guardian, accused Jaspert of not assessing the potential damage his utterance would cause to the people of the territory.

“I find that statement very irresponsible. It is clear from the inquiry there is no evidence to back up what he is saying, and it would be interesting to see if he would be willing to say that outside the protection of the inquiry as a private citizen. In saying that, he did not bear in mind the reputation of the BVI, families, the economy,” Fahie said.

He added: “The key to any country is its reputation, but so far, and thank God for that, there is no evidence provided in the Commission of Inquiry showing that the BVI is corrupt. We have provided them with over 200,000 papers.”

In the meantime, the premier and his government have found an ally in Tory MP and former attorney general, Sir Geoffrey Cox, who, during the Commission of Inquiry, decided to represent the ministers. Sir Cox’s decision to represent the government was not without controversy, as he was brutally criticized by some of his UK Parliamentary colleagues for landing a second job.

But the BVI premier had defended the UK parliamentarian’s decision. According to the Guardian, Fahie praised Cox and his legal team for doing what he described as a great job, asserting that he and his fellow BVI ministers would be rendered blameless.

“Lie has speed, but truth has endurance,” the online newspaper quoted the premier as saying.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Hyper-Realistic Reborn Dolls Draw Collectors Seeking Comfort and Craft
Gen Z Cuts Back on Dating as a Night Out Nears $200
Patients Turn to Artificial Intelligence for Therapy as Psychiatrists Warn of Privacy and Clinical Risks
Couples Embrace ‘Sleep Divorce’ to Protect Rest and Reduce Tension
Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million and Change Facebook and Instagram Safeguards for Children
Up to only 10 Months in Prison for Swedish Officer’s Murderer Sparks Anger
Success: Nvidia Turned Gaming Chips Into the Engine of the AI Boom
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
AI’s Next Bottleneck Is Power, Not Just Nvidia Chips
×