I have made it known in the past that I do not support the current functioning of the Integrity Commission (IC). It reminds me of how some police officers operate. They will hide around the corner to catch a speeding motorist. Has that stopped speeding on our roads, and has it stopped the mayhem and carnage? Some feel that the police strategy is to issue as many tickets as possible to earn revenue for the government.
I get the feeling that the same thing is happening with how the Integrity Commission operates. The intentions for setting up the Integrity Commission were good, but what it is becoming and can become is a powerful monster answerable to no one.
Let me make my position very clear:
- I do not support corruption.
- I value a stable government more than I am concerned about governments being corrupt.
- Corruption is a national problem and not just a political one.
- It is better to put systems in place that make it unattractive to be corrupt.
- The first corrupt leader that we catch should receive a life sentence on conviction.
For argument's sake, if the government got JAD100, and stole JAD10 and the rest was properly spent, I would shut my eyes. I would not be spending JAD100 to find JAD10. When I say government, I include the public sector as an arm of government. Politicians do not get money to spend.
We should never have set up an organization which can end up undermining any government. It is possible to have a bunch of people who take over the IC and set out to undermine the legitimately elected government of the people. I can't forget when it was reported that six parliamentarians were being investigated for illicit enrichment. That tarnished the reputation of all politicians. All one could hear from our leaders was, "It wasn't me." What happened to those investigations?
No institution other than the parliament should have the power to impeach the Prime Minister for corruption. I believe in term limits for the PM. After the PM has completed his term, a body can then investigate the PM.
It is a waste of time requiring parliamentarians and certain public servants to submit reports to the IC annually. To whom do the IC members submit their reports? The auditor general should audit the IC and not sit as a commissioner on the IC. The IC does not have the time and the staff to go through all these reports, and it can be said that the IC is targeting certain political figures. Some time ago, we lost a talented head of an organization because he was guilty of not submitting documents on time to the IC. This administrator should concentrate on his job and not be concerned about sending reports to the IC, which he would have sent to the tax department anyway.
There are other things we can put in place to deal with corruption. All business of the prime minister and members of the cabinet, for example, should be put in a trust while they are in office.
Remember that I told you this. One day, persons with their hidden agenda will take over the IC and determine that several members of the cabinet should be charged with illicit enrichment. This would require all these cabinet members to resign, and that would cripple the government. If it can happen, it will happen. Probably not in our lifetime. I will never forget the behaviour of the former head of the IC in parliament. He came across as if he were superior to the parliament of the land.
The IC, as it is now set up, cannot and will not stop corruption. It is another bureaucratic organization set up to benefit from taxpayers' money. That can be seen as a form of corruption!
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You should try to find Karen Cross' YouTube video on the Integrity Commission and their ultimate intentions, then you'd realise that what you're saying is not far from reality. Karen Cross is a former member of the PNP.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your comment about the 6 Parliamentarians who were being investigated for illicit enrichment, recall that the IC also said at the time that 28 public officials were being investigated for the same reason. Notice that the investigation of the 28 public officials has not resulted in any salacious headline, no comment from so called civil society on who these 28 public officials are. No one pays any attention to that and as you rightly said, they are the ones who receive public funds not politicians. But who really cares about these 28 people? Ending corruption is not the ultimate goal. Seems to me that what's more important is to wrestle power by any means necessary, regardless of what the will of the people is. Why should the sentiment of the Jamaican people matter? Why bother to try to gain their favour by highlighting what you can do for them when there is a more destructive way of gaining power?