_{Louis Wade, Jr., former substantive media commissioner on the PCC}

BELMOPAN, Mon. May 26, 2025

When the May 19th letter of concern to Prime Minister John Briceño by 10 of 46 former commissioners of the now dissolved People’s Constitution Commission (PCC) was publicly released, a senior journalist suggested that the media also sign the letter. In response, Plus TV’s Reverend Louis Wade, Jr., who served on the PCC as the media’s substantive representative, made a statement defending the integrity of the process.

As reported in the Friday, May 23 edition of the Amandala, the ten commissioners have requested a meeting with the PM before the end of the month to express their reservations and concerns about the final report which outlines 167 recommendations for an updated Belize Constitution. The eight organizations represented by the 10 commissioners (substantives and alternates) include the Belize National Teachers’ Union (Shantell Ramirez and Silvia Marin), the Public Service Union (Nichola Cho), the University of Belize (Christopher De Shield), the National Women’s Commission (Kristina Romero), the Maya Councils Representative (Cristina Coc), the LGBT Community (Caleb Orozco and Kendale Trapp), the National Students’ Union of Belize (Ashley Longford), and the Young Leaders Alliance of Belize (Alea Gomez).

The Commissioners highlighted concerns they said were previously made in an April 30 letter by six commissioners who pointed to: 1. Procedural mismanagement of the process and violations; 2. Adherence with the consensus principle that does not exist in the law; 3. Inconsistent record keeping; and 4. Bad faith management of the recommendation report. In their May 19 letter to the Prime Minister they added that at a Commission meeting on May 14, additional commissioners “raised their voices, joining the chorus of concerns expressed.” They noted that just as PCC Chairman, Anthony Chanona ignored the valid concerns of the initial commissioners, he also “steadfastly” ignored the voices of the expanded group of commissioners at the May 14 meeting.

The ten Commissioners proceeded to inform the PM that they were disassociating themselves from the final report he received from the PCC because the recommendations therein “are not the recommendations endorsed by majority of the PCC.” They reported that they had not even received a copy of the final report, and only got a visual presentation on screen at the May 14th meeting. They added that though they were told they would be able to offer their input in writing, with firm deadlines for submissions, “in the end none of our submissions were included to inform the final report.”

Wade said he was present at most sessions of the PCC, and described the letter to the PM as a misrepresentation of what took place. From a letter to stakeholders and during a stakeholders meeting with the media on April 29, we learned that up to 7 commissioners were placed in six Thematic Committees. Those each had volunteer chairpersons as follows: Arturo Lizarraga (Governance); Maria Zabaneh (Society); Sheena Pitts (Judiciary); Glenfield Dennison (Rule of Law); Joshua Pott and Charrice Talbert (Finance and Accountability); and Dr. Perlita Aldana (Resources).

PCC Chairman Chanona reported that the 167 recommendations were derived from 6,690 comments obtained from the public during outreach and consultations across the country between June 2023 and May 2024. For this purpose, the country was divided into four zones along with a fifth, the Diaspora. Chanona revealed that they held 149 events during which they directly met 22,447 people and reached 110 of 206 villages. He said they additionally issued over 10,000 surveys, and had 186,428 livestream viewers, among other methods employed including text messaging. They also visited 28 schools reaching 18,536 students. Notably, Chanona says there were “calls for proposals” that saw members of the public individually submit their recommendations. The Thematic Committees then had the arduous and tedious task of sifting through the over 6,000 comments to eliminate repetition. This was done over a period of four months. Thereafter, there were several drafts of the recommendations chapter of the report which went each time to the plenary of the commissioners for final approval. The PCC also obtained legal expertise to ensure the language was in compliance with the mandate in the PCC law. Wade in his statement remarked that the process used was voted on and approved and was in compliance with the PCC legislation. He also stated that the recommendations reflect the voices “of the vast majority of Belizeans.” According to Wade, he himself does not support all recommendations in the report, but noted that there are some which provide for new rights that ALL Belizeans can enjoy. He explained as well that some of the recommendations need to be fleshed out in the public domain and then drafted appropriately by legal professionals. Wade likewise pointed to the requirement for a referendum “where all voting Belizeans will have the final say …” 

According to Wade, “Several Commissioners attempted to commandeer the process, and when they failed, they attempted to insert several pages of recommendations which were later found and removed.” Responding directly to the claim that the initial letter of concern from the six commissioners was ignored, Wade stated, “The statement is disingenuous, as the entire letter was laid before the final Plenary session and was ventilated and discussed for over 1 hour. THE LETTER DID NOT GAIN MAJORITY SUPPORT. Instead one Commissioner withdrew their support, and another is ON RECORD stating that the issues were ventilated … throughout the day.” Additionally, it has been pointed out that before the report was submitted to the Prime Minister, a final review was sought from all groups, including the media and the other organizations represented on the PCC. The meeting with the media took place on April 29. All the additional observations were submitted as an appendix in the report that went to the PM.

After the letter of the 10 commissioners was publicized, Wade encouraged the media to seek the input from the alternate media representative on the PCC, Lizbeth Ayuso of the Reporter Press. When we reached her by phone today, she told us she shares Wade’s position and indicated that everyone “had ample opportunity to vent our concerns.” She noted that anytime concerns were, in fact, raised, the Chairman addressed them each time. She added that if anyone is unhappy with the process, there will still be an opportunity for them to express it during the referendum.

When we spoke with former PCC Chairman Chanona today, he told us that he is withholding from making comments to give the Prime Minister space to address the matter. He indicated, though, that he has asked the Prime Minister to allow him to be present if he agrees to meet with the ten commissioners, so that he is allowed natural justice to respond to the allegations made against him, the team or the process itself.

On the matter of the requirements under the PCC law for accounts to be submitted to the Office of the Auditor General, Chanona said the reporting body is the secretariat, and the figures were submitted to them. The report to the Prime Minister also includes a breakdown of expenses.

Based on an amendment to the PCC law, the Prime Minister now has 12 months from the submission of the report to lay it before the National Assembly.