Senator Franka Bernardine has disclosed that the Facebook profile in her name and a second page called “Franka Bernardine for Prime Minister 2018” were created without her permission and has no knowledge who is behind the social media pages.
“I learnt of them after they were created, but I am honoured that there are those who have expressed confidence in me — people saw it and told be about it,” Bernardine said, when asked if she will distance herself from the profiles and publicly ask for a removal of the Facebook pages.
“People are expressing their belief in me. I cannot stop them from expressing that belief,” said the opposition senator, who attended Wednesday’s sitting of the Upper House, in which members approved the Electronic Crimes Bill which makes it a criminal offence for someone to engage in electronic fraud and forgery and electronic identity theft. She did not fully support the bill; she told the house that she has reservations about sections of the Bill.
Among her 2,623 friends on the profile page is former Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, former ministers of the National Democratic Congress, as well as known supporters, while there are 47 “likes” on the page which is lobbying for her to be the 2018 prime minister.
Bernardine served as Minister for Education with the Tillman Thomas administration, and the Facebook profile continues to describe her as an employee of the Government of Grenada, although she no longer holds that post. Since the National Democratic Congress lost the 19 February General Elections, the creator of her Facebook profile has made comments and continuously questions the decisions and initiatives undertaken by the ruling New National Party.