Let’s face it, the Integrity Commission (IC) cannot function effectively if there are individuals who are deemed to be “untouchables” and must remain outside the ambit of prosecution.

While Prime Minister Dr Andrew Michael Holness may not personally have given that impression, his overly zealous supporters in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), including parliamentarians, have outrightly challenged the IC’s constitutional right to carry out its prescribed role as there has been the recurring accusation that the body is biased and has been focusing primarily on the ruling party’s government members.

Apart from the accusations of being biased in a partisan way, there have been several swipes taken at the IC, questioning its competence and credibility. In a country where the perception of corruption among public officials remains at a very high level, the IC must have the testicular fortitude, courage, and determination to carry out its mandate without fear or favour. But can it, in this current hailstorm of attacks, do so with success and probity?

The bottom line is that the IC must be allowed to do its work and should, therefore, have the blessing and support of all well-thinking Jamaicans, including our politicians and other public officials. But, alas, this has not been so. The latest controversy surrounding state minister Andrew Wheatley, who is being ‘fingered’ for illicit enrichment by the IC, has blown up in the Holness Administration’s face, even while the ongoing case against the prime minister himself continues without any meaningful resolution in sight.

And though civil society groups and many concerned citizens have been insisting that the embattled Wheatley should step aside from his current position in the Government until the matter has been fully resolved, the prime minister has so far taken no action. Wheatley himself has declared his innocence and taken on the appurtenance of someone who has been wrongfully targeted by the IC.

In this scenario, as has been the case with many other IC investigations, the Jamaican public is more than quick to assume that anyone who is being investigated is guilty and must be tarred and feathered. This, of course, presents an unfair scenario as due process would suggest that a person is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Against this backdrop, it may well be that the IC needs to revisit its modus operandi with respect to the investigation of public officials, taking into account the character assassination that descends on those being investigated, even though they may well be exonerated in the long run.

Clearly, the way in which the IC is now operating will undoubtedly continue to put it at a serious disadvantage. At its inception, the IC was expected to be “a powerful, independent parliamentary commission that actively investigates and prosecutes acts of corruption. It is empowered to investigate public officials, review government procurement procedures, and handle matters of illicit enrichment”.

As a layman in the legal field, I am forced to question whether the IC should remain a creature of Parliament and not function as a statutory body, not beholden to Parliament but answerable by jurisdiction to the courts of the land. This current umbilical relationship with the Parliament clearly, in principle as well as practice, is an oxymoron, and as long as this relationship remains intact, the IC will, for all intents and purposes, remain a toothless tiger.

The sad truth is that given the political divisiveness that plagues the Jamaican society, the IC will always be “manhandled” by the party in power when any of its members are being investigated/prosecuted, but those same members will applaud with glee when it is their opponents who are being investigated/prosecuted. So, for the IC, in the final analysis, it is a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t!

There is also the issue of how the IC is staffed, as the selection process should be handled with great transparency and care to ensure that no one who can in any way be seen to be sympathetic to either the Jamaica Labour Party or the People’s National Party is placed in a sensitive position. Of course, this may prove to be extremely difficult, but there must be men and women of honour left in the Jamaican society who can function in the best interest of Jamaica, land we love.

When all is said and done, Jamaica needs the IC to fire on all cylinders. If not, “dawg nyam wi supper”!

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full-time in Jamaican media for the past 50 years. He has also served as a People’s National Party 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.