More than 60 per cent of Jamaicans have declared that they are unsatisified with the $18-million Government spend on Senator Kamina Johnson Smith’s failed campaign for the post of secretary general of the Commonwealth, according to an Our Today poll.

The poll, which ran from August 8 to August 13 on the Our Today website, asked readers the question: Are you satisfied with the Government of Jamaica’s $18-million spend on Senator Kamina Johnson Smith’s candidature for Secretary General of the Commonwealth?

According to the results, 62.5 per cent of participants said ‘No’, while 31.25 per cent said ‘Yes’ and 6.25 per cent said they ‘Don’t care’.

The poll followed the August 7 disclosure by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) of the spending on and around the campaign in which Johnson Smith, the country’s minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, was seeking unseat the incumbent Baroness Patricia Scotland.

In its statement, the OPM, indicated that, of the cumulative sum of J$43,942,443.54, the just over $18 million was spent solely in financing Johnson Smith’s campaign while another $25 million was spent for the massive delegation present at the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Kigali, Rwanda.

While not providing a detailed breakdown of the costs, the Andrew Holness administration said Johnson Smith’s campaign price tag covered “air and ground transportation, COVID-19 tests, meals and accommodation, PR/Communications support activities for staging of events such as the launch and engagements with delegations (IT support, printing of documents, photography, food and beverages)”.

With respect to costs borne by the Government delegation to Kigali, a cost breakdown was provided to include the corresponding State-operated entities, namely:

• Office of the Prime Minister, which paid $12,827,897
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which contributed $7,715,585.37
• and the Ministry of Tourism, which spent $5,131,386.00

In two instances, the OPM also listed “some assistance” it received from corporate Jamaica companies towards Johnson Smith’s campaign and the retention of US-based firm FINN Partners.

For FINN Partners, however, the Government maintained that it was not “a party to this arrangement” and was not liable with regards to the payment of the US$99,000, three-month contract to promote Johnson Smith.

This statement, however, was subsequently brought into question by the Opposition People’s National Party after it was revealed that a United States’ Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filing by FINN Partners indicated that Johnson Smith was listed as the only “foreign principal” on the document. 

However, Robert Nesta Morgan, the minister with responsibility for information, who has been the government’s key spokesperson on matters related to the campaign, noted that, under FARA, “a ‘foreign principal’ is defined as not only a foreign government, but also a foreign political party, person, or organisation outside of the United States, and any entity organised under the laws of a foreign country or with its primary place of business in a country.”