Document it: Skelton-Cline tells candidates to get party offers in writing

Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline, a talk show host, has cautioned candidates receiving money or other benefits from political parties to demand written, notarised proof of any commitments made to them.

Speaking during his programme Honestly Speaking on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, Skelton-Cline responded to reports that at least one political party is providing financial packages to prospective candidates in exchange for their candidacy and votes.

"Make sure number 1: you have a signed agreement, notarised by a real Notary and a seal of the company's document, who is guaranteeing your salary, who is making you all these promises," he said. Without such documentation, he warned, candidates who do not receive promised payments will likely find themselves in Magistrate's Court attempting to recover compensation.

Skelton-Cline also raised concerns about the character of candidates willing to accept such arrangements. "This country is not for sale, and my brother and sister, if it is, for you to go and offer yourself for elected services, you got to be prepackaged; it already shows that you can be bought," he stated.

He pressed further on the contradiction of someone accepting payment for their political participation then being entrusted as a fiduciary of the Virgin Islands. "Somebody needs to have honest conversations with you. This country should not have to carry bags that it did not pack," Skelton-Cline added.

The remarks come after Bishop John I. Cline disclosed that individuals had approached him claiming they had been offered incentives in return for their votes.