Sometimes it’s better to stay quiet and be thought to be out of touch than to keep talking and confirm it. But hey, Prime Minister Davis doesn’t do quiet. No, this morning, he decided to introduce a brand-new excuse—sorry, reason—for why his “New Day” government has done precisely nothing to implement the Freedom of Information Act.

This is starting to feel like a Netflix series nobody asked for: “FOIA: The Excuses Saga.” We had Season 1, starring PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell, who scoffed at the whole idea of giving the Bahamian people access to public information. His greatest hits included:

“Freedom of Information? I don’t think so.”

“It’s too expensive.”

“Too bureaucratic.”

“Not relevant to people’s everyday lives.”

Translation: You don’t need to know what we’re doing with your money. Just trust us. (LOL.)

And now, in Season 2, we get a new twist: Prime Minister Davis has decided that the Freedom of Information Act is… wait for it… esoteric. That’s right—esoteric. A fancy word meaning “confusing” or “only for the elite few to understand.” Kind of like his logic.

Here’s the headline from The Tribune:

“PM: FOIA implementation will not significantly increase govt. transparency.”

Wait—what?

So let’s get this straight: the Prime Minister of a democratic nation is saying that giving people access to information about how their government works… won’t make the government more transparent?

What’s next? “Fire extinguishers don’t really help with fires”? “Umbrellas don’t really stop the rain”?

Now, to be fair, Mr. Davis did toss out the usual vague political appetizer: “You will see some movement on the implementation…” But—surprise, surprise—he didn’t elaborate. Because why actually move on transparency when you can just say you’re moving?

Meanwhile, for the second straight year, the budget for FOIA implementation is $140,000. That’s less than what some ministries spend on travel. We want transparency, not a bake sale.

And then came the real kicker:

“There’s a misconception as to what the FOIA really entails. It doesn’t give unfettered access… it doesn’t make available matters that’s not already available…”

Hold on—if it doesn’t give access to anything new, and it’s too esoteric, and it’s too expensive, and it’s too bureaucratic… why does it exist at all? Why did you campaign on it?

Is the new official position of the PLP: “We promised transparency, but you wouldn’t understand it anyway”?

And if the Prime Minister is saying that FOIA wouldn’t make the government more transparent, isn’t he just admitting that this government—his government—has no intention of being transparent in the first place?

Mr. Davis, are you speaking as the leader of the PLP—the same party that has historically side-eyed accountability like it’s a scam—or as a Prime Minister who thinks Bahamians should sit in the dark while public funds vanish under the carpet like spilled tea?

Because here’s the thing: Bahamians can fix their own roofs, their own lives, their own problems—if they know what’s really going on. But when millions suddenly appear for contracts, renovations, and pet projects, and the public is told “don’t worry your pretty little heads about it,” that’s not leadership. That’s condescension wrapped in evasion, with a side of gaslight.

Transparency isn’t some boutique idea for nerds with clipboards. It’s how you show respect for the people who put you in office. And when the government keeps finding new ways to say “you don’t need to know”, it says a lot more about their priorities than any campaign slogan ever could.

So yes, Mr. Prime Minister, we’d love to hear the real reason FOIA is still on ice. Just be honest this time:
Is it incompetence?
Is it fear?
Or is it simply that transparency has always been bad for business—PLP business?

Either way, Bahamians deserve better than a “New Day” that looks suspiciously like the same Old PLP Way.

END