The Minnis Administration paid former Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson over $105,000 for his vacation days before his retirement despite forcing Assistant Commissioners Stephen Dean, Ken Strachan, Clayton Fernander and Leamond Deleveaux to use up all of their accumulated weeks in vacation leave in 2019.
Then-Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis and then-Minister of National Security Marvin Dames insisted the decision to send the men on leave was not political but was an attempt to save money. However, this rule clearly did not apply to Ferguson and a few other officers who were in good political standing with the governing party.
Ferguson retired from the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) in 2020 after serving as the commissioner of police for three years. However, he was moved to an even higher paying position as Director of the National Crime Intelligence Agency (NCIA), earning $100,000 annually.
Ferguson's five-year contract took effect on October 5, 2020.
He was rewarded professionally for supervising the blatant political prosecution of two former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Cabinet Ministers and a former PLP Senator under the Minnis-led government in 2017.
He also allegedly approved a joint meeting between the two key witnesses in the Shane Gibson trial. Supt. Debra Thompson, who held the meeting, confirmed this under oath in the Supreme Court. Gibson was acquitted of all charges.
The Minnis cabinet also approved the engagements of Chief Superintendent Mario Johnson as Assistant Director Of Operations at NCIA on a $75,000 contract and retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Samuel Butler on a $85,000 contract as Deputy Director of the NCIA.
According to a Ministry of National Security memo, obtained by the Gallery, the contracts are for a period of five years "with effect from the date of assumption of duty inclusive of 15% gratuity payable upon satisfactory completion of contract".FNM govt paid former police chief $105K for vacation days