ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Prominent Jamaican businessman and government senator, Don Wehby, has been named to lead a Cricket West Indies task force on the much talked about issue of governance reform.
The move comes just weeks after new CWI president Ricky Skerritt promised to revisit the Patterson Report and others, in order to undertake an overhaul of the regional governing body’s governance structure.
Wehby had also been appointed chairman of a similar committee back in 2016 under former president Dave Cameron, tasked with reviewing the remaining recommendations from the Patterson, Lucky and Wilkins reports on governance.
Skerritt was one of the members comprising that committee.
CWI announced yesterday that Wehby’s task force would be tasked with ensuring the regional governing body “reforms its governance to achieve greater transparency and accountability to shareholders, as well as all stakeholders.”
“Senator Wehby is an independent business executive, who brings a wealth of experience in corporate governance. We could not be more pleased to have someone with his considerable expertise lead this task force,” said Skerritt.
“For CWI and the game in the West Indies to succeed in the long term, we must rebuild the trust of our fans and our key stakeholders. That is not going to be easy because we have to convince some very important people that corporate governance advancement is in all of our interests.”
CWI has been heavily criticised in the past for ignoring the key recommendations of the Patterson, Lucky and Wilkins reports.
The governing body also gave short shrift to the most recent CARICOM-commissioned Barriteau Report which, among other things, called for the “immediate dissolution” of the organisation.
Skerritt, who was elected on the basis of engaging the controversial topic of reform, said all previous reports would now be re-engaged.
“What we have to do now is go back, dust off those reports and use them to see which of the governance changes are still relevant and which ones we can implement as quickly as possible.”
Wehby, a former CWI independent director, said he was anxiously looking forward to the role.
“It has to be an essential part of doing business and I am excited to be working with a leadership team that is so focussed on quality and integrity,” he said.
“I look forward to leading the reform of CWI’s corporate governance and enhancing its culture and reputation to build a stronger governing body.”