According to Google, “Belling the cat is a story of a group of mice deciding to put a bell on a cat’s neck so that they could be warned before the cat approaches in the future. But they fail to find a volunteer who would perform the task of belling the cat.” It goes on to state that the moral of the story is that one should “have the courage to face the toughest situation in life and never get swayed away by the praises that you get from others without analysing the situation”.

For many decades Jamaica has been plagued with the spectre of corruption, whether real or imagined. Repeatedly it has been said that our politicians are corrupt and that among many acts of malfeasance has been the putting of sticky fingers on public funds. It is no secret that representational politics is “big business” and it is a common scenario too see many men and women going into Gordon House with not much wealth but in time becoming extremely wealthy. For the most part, these “fat cats” are never brought to book even though John Public’s finger is often pointed at them. Indeed, it is amazing that with so many anecdotal accounts of “tiefing politicians” so few of them have ended up in “short pants” (doing prison time).

Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. It is expected that our elected officials should be men and women of integrity, but from all indications this has not been the case for the most part.
The Gleaner once referred to members of the House of Representatives as “the gangs of Gordon House” which when interpreted would suggest that gangsterism is at the helm of our parliamentary democracy. In this regard, poll after poll has revealed that public trust in our elected politicians has always remained at an all-time low.

I recall when I decided in 2011 to run for a seat in Parliament on a People’s National Party (PNP) ticket an elderly gentleman met me in the supermarket and almost at the point of tears bemoaned the fact that my reputation would be besmirched by making that decision, as Jamaican politics is a bed of iniquity. I have never forgotten the distressed look on his face.

Subsequently, at my first constituency conference, I declared that I was not going to be involved in any “licky-licky, nyammy-nyammy” politics. Much to my chagrin, I was told I may well have signed my political death warrant because, as one renowned politician puts it, “Politics is about who gets what, when, and where.” Eventually, I would learn my lesson the hard way as disgruntled constituents who could not have their way with me in terms of hand-outs and special favours turned against me. In this context, vote-buying has become rampant right across the board and it is a well-established fact that “parson christen him pickney first”.

It is in such a quagmire that the Integrity Commission (IC) finds itself, and what is most disconcerting is that it is a creature of Parliament, so in the final analysis it may well be a case of trying to put a square peg in a round hole. To put it bluntly, based on our very divisive and corrupt political culture, the IC is destined to be an endangered species, seeing that it is a clear and present danger to all corrupt politicians.

Already, several potshots have been taken at the IC, with various threats being levelled at that august body whenever it says or publishes anything that does not find favour with especially the ruling party at this time. One suspects that in time, when the shoe is on the other foot, a similar scenario may well unfold. So where do we go from here?

Most well-thinking Jamaicans who are not blindly partisan would agree that the commissioners of the IC are of impeccable integrity and cannot be easily tarred and feathered because of any obvious partisan bias, yet some politicians and even some members of the media fraternity have chosen to not only question their integrity (how ironic) but have sought to impugn undesirable motives on their part.

The current kerfuffle surrounding the IC’s report to Parliament on the financial affairs of Prime Minister Andrew Holness has once again brought to the fore the sticky wicket on which the IC has been tasked to bat. In the final analysis, however, it can be said unreservedly that were the IC to be neutered or disbanded Jamaica would end up in an even darker place than it is now. That is why concerned citizens as well as influential members of civil society such as the Church, the private sector, professional bodies, academia, the media, and all who genuinely want to see the deleterious monster being sufficiently tamed, must join in the fray and not sit on the sidelines.

In all of this, there needs to be a greater level of appreciation for the role of the Opposition party, whose pivotal role in any healthy democracy should not be slighted or demeaned. Its role is to be the people’s watchdog, because without them the country would be subjected to becoming a virtual dictatorship.

According to Jamaican parlance, “Every dog must have its day and every puss him 12 o’clock,” so Prime Minister Holness has every right to defend his reputation, but this must be done within a responsible context, whereby the IC ought not to be isolated and pilloried simply because it does not sing a certain tune.

With the general election imminent, it is expected that there will be much at stake with respect to the fortunes of both the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), thus the fireworks will be intensified and the shenanigans of both parties could seriously get out of hand. Already, we have seen an alleged security threat at the prime minister’s Beverly Hills residence that was foiled, and Comrades and Labourites have become very virulent and may even become violent in the days ahead.

Against this background, both Holness and Golding must be urged to keep a cool head and let the work of the IC be carried out while other peripheral investigations and due diligence are done to determine the true state of affairs with respect to the prime minister’s accounts.

When all is said and done, this is a classic case of mice and men, and the potent question that must be asked is: Who will bell the cat?

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full time in Jamaican media for the past 49 years. He has also served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.