Continue the fight against corruption
The National Integrity Action (NIA) is celebrating five years of existence. The NIA was established with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to build public awareness of the dangers of corruption and to influence action towards:
• new legislation to strengthen transparency and accountability in governance;
• enforcement of the law against individuals and institutions involved in corruption;
• ensuring that anti-corruption agencies are properly established and carry out their mandate; and
• creating strong ties with national and international partners to add impetus to the movement towards a corruption-free Jamaica.
Over its short life, the relatively small team of staff and stakeholders who comprise the NIA have had some notable achievements in all of these areas.
On a national level, the results of the anti-corruption movement have been mixed, as one would expect, in taking on a monster that, like Goliath, stalks the land. In 2015, Jamaica advanced 16 places in its standing among countries of the world on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI). One year later Jamaica slipped 14 places to 83 of 173 countries measured by the CPI.
The slippage, although disappointing, should awaken the public in general, and the Government in particular, to the pressing items on the legislative agenda which await decisive action and consummation. These include:
(1) Amendments to the Representation of the People Act to provide for “registration and deregistration” of political parties, and the regulation of campaign financing.
(2) Impeachment legislation to provide for removal of corrupt elected officials from office.
(3) Merger of the relevant agencies of government to form a single, cost-effective and efficacious anti-corruption body.
As important as these actions are, we will agree that corruption, at its root, is an issue of morality. It is a common understanding that one cannot legislate morality. The battle will be won by people empowered with knowledge and having the courage to hold public officials accountable and to change their own behaviour.
The NIA’s launch two weeks ago of an islandwide initiative to build the capacity of community based organisations, to empower community leaders, and to directly engage them in the fight against corruption could be the action that puts Jamaica on a sustained upward trajectory in its CPI ranking.
The NIA, in partnership with the Council for Voluntary Social Services (CVSS) and the 4-H Clubs, starting at Denbigh in Clarendon and Rose Hall in St Catherine, will over the next two years, establish five anti-corruption Centres of Excellence and train 850 community leaders to step up the fight against corruption.
Moving down the food chain, so to speak, by engaging those who were most affected, bodes well for the fight against corruption. The Global Corruption Barometer in a 2013 survey, found that 77 per cent of Jamaicans are willing to join the fight against corruption. This compares to a global average of 53 per cent of people who are so inclined.
The words of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, which appear in the glossy publication released by the NIA as part of its fifth year of celebration, also give hope that we will win the battle against corruption.I quote in part: “As the lead anti-corruption organisation, the NIA has spearheaded numerous activities and education campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of the importance of transparency and integrity to economic advancement and social development. These are important pillars on which great democracies and economies are built. This Administration has not only accepted the mandate, but has also embraced the responsibility to create an environment which discourages corruption at al levels”.
In the words put to song by Bob Marley: DON’T GIVE UP THE FIGHT…. against corruption.
— hmorgan@cwjamaica.com