Governor Dakin tells Parliament he will stay, and so will Botting

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, October 6, 2022 – There will be no tendering of his resignation, says Governor Nigel Dakin who rejected the demands unequivocally on Monday during what was only his second ever address to the House of Assembly.

In the previous week as murders spiraled and the third double homicide in as many weeks was recorded, several individuals including McAllister Hanchell, former cabinet minister; former premiers: Michael Misick and Galmo Williams; Oswald Skippings, former chief minister along with the current Opposition Leader, Edwin Astwood all publicly called for the Governor’s resignation.

“Some who have called for my resignation have no personal credibility to make such demands and if it were just them they would not warrant serious attention but there are those who do have credibility,” Dakin said in response.

He maintained that he was not responding to those ‘grandstanding on a platform’ or even the media but to the elected representatives and by extension the nation. The Governor mentioned the Leader of the Opposition as a part of those who he both respected and liked and who deserved a response along with the people he served.

And the response?

“There are too many external factors and too many historical reasons that are entirely out of my control that influence levels of crime so the level of crime is not a metric that on its own I would resign over. This metric may well be a reason to work ever harder but not to give up.” He said firmly.

In fact Nigel Dakin maintained there were only three reasons he would ever resign:

• If it became clear that the Premier and himself could not work as a team because of a fundamental disagreement over national security policy.
•  If his personal ability through exhaustion, illness or debilitating effects of criticism made his performance sub optimal and,
• An inability to secure for the Turks and Caicos support it needs from the UK or other external sources

He said none of these factors were applicable to the current situation as not only was he working well with Premier  Washington Misick on the issue of national security, he thrived in adversity, and by his record, he said, had secured much needed help for the TCI repeatedly.

Dakin made it clear that to abruptly leave his post in the TCI to a new ‘unaware’ Governor now, for personal reasons, would be reckless. And he said “I am not reckless” With this in mind he maintained, “In consultation with the Premier and the UK,  I can assure the House that it is my intention to stay and I will not be leaving before March 2023.”

He also responded to calls for Police Commissioner Trevor Botting’s resignation by saying, “The police commissioner has led during this period with distinction and personal courage. He currently has the hardest job in the territory—. While some honorable members of the house have called for his resignation and given the amount of pressure he is under I’m sure he considers it every day. I would not accept his resignation if offered because just now it would help the gangs and not the territory.”

Thus both Dakin and Botting will seemingly remain in their positions.

Trevor Botting joined the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands police in 2017, as deputy commissioner and was elevated to Police Commissioner in July 2019; Nigel Dakin also took office as TCI Governor in July 2019; one of his first acts of duty was swearing in the Botting.

This past July, Trevor Botting was given a one year extension as head of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force.