Dear Reader,

It is ironic that both verdicts were handed down the same week — the prime minister found “not guilty” in the Manatt/Dudus affair and the minister of religion, Reverend Paul Lewis, found “not guilty” in the carnal abuse case involving two teenage girls.

What should have been two clear-cut convictions of corruption and criminality, turned out to be nothing more than a charade of justice, leaving the country in an even worse state of moral and ethical decay than before. If it were not so serious and so expensive, I imagine that we could chalk it up to “experience”, but the deep ramifications of both cases must give all of us cause for reflection and concern, if not action.

I can’t imagine what the international community thinks of us after the Manatt/Dudus Commission of Enquiry verdict. Even without Wikileaks we can speculate that the diplomatic cables paint a poor picture of continued corruption and complicity. Having opened the door for scrutiny and possibly conviction, the US State Department must be shaking their heads in disbelief that not one person has been held accountable for any wrongdoing in the Manatt/ Dudus affair.

Jamaica’s upward progression on the corruption index must have been immediately pegged following the commission’s verdict. It is no longer just corruption that characterises Jamaican society — it is institutional corruption that now puts us in the league with those countries topping the world corruption index scale. It must be clear that it is no longer crime that militates against direct foreign investments in Jamaica. It is now also institutional corruption.

Mr Golding needs to be told that no amount of PR (public relations), not even the photo ops with him and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton can remove the indelible mark of corruption that has been imprinted on his administration and by extension, his party. The United States may have no interest in “rocking the Jamaican boat”, but not even the most powerful country in the world can use diplomatic whitewash to erase the deep stain of corruption.

Then there is the matter of cost. If the Manatt/Dudus Enquiry had been selffinancing, perhaps some of us could say, “Cho, mek it gwaan,” but the estimated $72 million of taxpayers’ money that was expended was to no avail. The $72-million “inappropriate behaviour” verdict must be the most expensive two words ever spoken in the history of mankind. Anyone of us could have uttered the phrase without charging the country one single cent.

At a time when so many Jamaicans are teetering on the verge of destitution, to have spent $72 million on “inappropriateness” is in and of itself criminal. That sum of money could have effectively reconstructed Tivoli Gardens and improved the lives of the residents of that community in a significant way.

Not that the people of Tivoli or for that matter, the majority of Jamaicans expected any hope or reprieve from the Manatt/Dudus Enquiry. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of all is that the people of Jamaica didn’t expect anything to come out of the enquiry, and they were right. For a country and its citizens to accept corruption as a given — as a way of life, is the most serious malady besetting Jamaica. The widespread resignation that nothing can change and that nothing can be done, is at the root of the apathy and complacency that is stifling our country and our future, and the Commission of Enquiry has served to deepen the malaise and the distrust.

It is important for us to recognise how the corruption in government is bound up with the condition of the nation’s children. Not only does corruption keep our children and their families poor, but it also renders our laws ineffective, which brings me to the Paul Lewis case.

He would have noticed the limited prosecutorial resources and the weaknesses in the evidentiary process. He would most certainly have taken into account the deep levels of rural poverty and the mindset surrounding the sexual abuse of teenage girls. As a televangelist who visited Jamaica many times before, he would have noted the apathy of the Jamaican church and its preoccupation with denominational doctrine. In what I describe as a watershed case, Lewis walked free after conclusive DNA evidence and an eyewitness to the crime for which he was charged.

The Manatt/Dudus and the Paul Lewis verdicts can only be described as “Justice, Jamaica style” — the two-tiered system under which we operate — one for the rich and one for the poor — one for those with power and influence — and one for the “plebs”. The fact that both the prime minister and minister of religion Paul Lewis were found “not guilty” the same week, confirms that point, and underscores the deep systemic and psychological damage that characterise Jamaican society and our institutions.

With love,

bab2609@yahoo.com