KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s main opposition has thrown the country’s governing administration into political turmoil, calling for the immediate ousting of a sitting cabinet minister after the national Integrity Commission tabled an investigative report recommending multiple criminal charges against him.
Opposition Leader Mark Golding made the demand public in an official statement released Wednesday evening, breaking down the key findings of the completed probe. According to Golding, the Director of Corruption Prosecution has formally approved four criminal charges against Dr Andrew Wheatley, currently serving as minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister. The charges cover illicit enrichment, intentional submission of false statements on mandatory statutory declarations, and intentional failure to disclose required information to the Director of Information and Complaints, in violation of Jamaican anti-corruption law.
In Golding’s view, any public official facing prosecution recommendations for such serious corruption-related offenses has no place in Jamaica’s national cabinet. “The integrity of our public institutions and the trust of the Jamaican people demand nothing less,” Golding emphasized, adding that Prime Minister Andrew Holness has an immediate obligation to remove Wheatley from his post.
The Integrity Commission’s investigation, finalized by the Director of Investigation on March 20, 2026 and endorsed by the corruption prosecution director three months later on June 11, makes a damning allegation: over a nine-year period, Wheatley accumulated assets worth roughly 164 million Jamaican dollars that far outstripped his documented lawful income. When formally asked to account for the unexplained wealth, investigators say Wheatley failed to provide a credible, satisfactory explanation.
Wheatley has publicly pushed back against the findings, vehemently maintaining his innocence. He argues that the Integrity Commission deliberately omitted 168 million Jamaican dollars in legitimate earnings he generated from real estate investments, dismissing the entire report as baseless and false.
Golding notes that this is far from the first time serious ethical and legal questions have emerged about Wheatley’s conduct while holding public office. Previous controversies surrounding his ministerial work already led to his removal from cabinet for a lengthy period, yet following the 2025 Jamaican general election, Holness made the decision to reappoint Wheatley to his government.
This reappointment has sparked new questions about the communication between the prime minister and his minister, Golding pointed out. It remains unclear whether Wheatley disclosed the ongoing Integrity Commission investigation to Holness before he accepted the cabinet post, or if he intentionally concealed the probe from the country’s leader.
Regardless of which scenario is true, Golding argues that the decision to bring Wheatley back into cabinet has now been exposed as a serious error in judgment. “Good governance is not a mere slogan, it is a required standard,” Golding said. “The prime minister has a duty to uphold that standard, immediately and without hesitation.”