Corruption can and must be conquered
A “corrupt practice” is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting, directly or indirectly, anything of value to influence improperly the actions of another party.
– European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Since 1995, Transparency International, a global movement to end the injustice of corruption, has surveyed tens of thousands of people in 180 countries and territories around the world to gauge their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) provides a score on a scale between zero (highly corrupt) and 100 (very clean).
In its most recent survey in 2022, Barbados scored 65 on the CPI, well down from 76 in 2012, while The Bahamas dropped from 71 to 64, and St Lucia from 71 to 55. The results are very worrying, with a clear perception that the Caribbean is losing the fight against corruption.
In its 2018 People’s Manifesto, the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) stated that it “stands for good and transparent governance” and in the same document, under the banner Stamping Out Corruption, declared that “corruption is a stain on our society, a drain on our economy and reduces government revenues”.
“We will move swiftly to end corruption.”
Prior to this, the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), in its 2013 manifesto, stated that “there is a need to restore the image of Government in Barbados to one of decency, ethical behaviour and serving the interests of the people, instead of the interests of powerful groups and politicians themselves”.
The DLP heralded that it had taken “the bold step of finally passing integrity legislation in Barbados” and asserted that “the enactment and subsequent implementation of this important piece of legislation will go a long way towards, holding public officials accountable”. Regrettably the DLP never moved to have the legislation proclaimed and brought into law. Then Prime Minister Freundel Stuart hammered home the final nail in its coffin when, speaking at a Democratic Labour Party mass meeting in the lead-up to the 2018 election, he stated that the Prevention Of Corruption Act of 1929 was still active and had the power to bring corrupt public officials “to their knees” . . . thereby implying that there was no need for the new act.
IGB is not aware of any politician ever having been “brought to their knees” in Barbados for corruption.
A borderless crime
Globalisation has made corruption a borderless crime. Corrupt transactions can cross multiple jurisdictions, making the ensuing police investigation both time-consuming and complex.
Fortunately, the international community, including agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and policing bodies such as INTERPOL, have increased their efforts to stamp out corruption. Barbadians were subjected to embarrassment when a former senior DLP cabinet member was charged, and found guilty, of money laundering by a US federal jury.
IGB shares the view as stated by the BLP in its manifesto, that corruption is a drain on the economy as a government overpays for goods and services and loses revenue when it does not collect the correct amounts of duties and taxes. Such practices take resources away from education, health care, and effective infrastructure – investments that support economic development and raise the standard of living. But the cost of corruption is greater than the sum of lost money as it distorts government’s priorities and is contagious and corrosive, eating away at a society’s values and undermining the moral fabric on which our nation was built.
As stated in an article entitled The Cost Of Corruption by Paolo Mauro, Paulo Medas and Jean Marc Fournier of the IMF’s fiscal affairs department – “Curbing corruption can be a daunting task, but it is necessary to restore public trust in government.
The fight against corruption can also bring significant economic and social gains over time.
It starts with domestic political will, continuous strengthening of institutions to promote integrity and accountability, and global cooperation.”
The current BLP Government has all the tools and power necessary to enact integrity legislation and, furthermore, to give it the necessary regulations and authority for it to be effective.
Instead, after the 2018 proclamations, there appears to be a continued reluctance to do such and a willingness to leave it “on the back burner”. The country deserves follow through on promises made, including regular updates following the Attorney General’s reported statement in the media over a year ago that “in the last three and a half years we have brought in investigators to carry out detailed investigations into the alleged corruption that existed in the last administration”.
Our fight against corruption must start from within our own borders. Corruption can and must be conquered. That is why IGB has been lobbying from its inception for the strengthening of legislation supported by strong policing by a fully functioning Integrity Commission, an independent judiciary, free of the influence of powerful individuals in the public and private sector, empowerment of auditors (both internal and external) and consequences for those found guilty of corruption. The cost of failure is too high to contemplate.