Basil Jarrett | Resisting corruption

WORLD ANTI-CORRUPTION Day was last Saturday, December 9. And if you missed it, you would be forgiven. World Anti-Corruption Day has the unfortunate distinction of being sandwiched between three heavyweight holidays – Turkey Day, Black Friday, and the heaviest of them all, Santa Claus. Okay, so maybe Black Friday isn’t really a holiday, but it certainly gets more media attention than the one day out of the year that has been set aside to highlight the enormous albatross that hangs perpetually around our collective necks. Even last year’s event was spoiled by Brazil, who stole the headlines when they lost 4-2 to Croatia in the World Cup. My apologies in advance to the Brazil fans for bringing back that haunting memory.

Corruption costs Jamaica an estimated $100 billion each year. Money that could obviously be spent on our roads, hospitals, schools, water delivery systems and police stations. But somehow, we fail to recognise and prioritise its elimination. Many have given up on and fled Jamaica out of frustration with the rampant corruption that exists here. But for those of us who have chosen to stay behind, stand up and continue the fight, it sometimes feel like trying to empty the ocean with a spoon.

POWER IN OUR HANDS

This is largely because, as a joint statement by the US Embassy and the British High Commission noted last Saturday, “The long-term success of (anti-corruption) efforts, will ultimately depend on the Jamaican people. Citizens must continue to demand progress from their governments on an anti-corruption agenda in support of democracy, rule of law, and a bright, sustainable and prosperous future”. And I agree. Jamaicans are far too comfortable with, and tolerant of, corruption. Corruption exists because we allow it to. And by turning a blind eye to it or by not prioritising its elimination, we are all, in some way or another, enabling or facilitating it.

Corruption is varied and complex, but is most often differentiated by the sums of money involved. Grand corruption is its most well-known form, and occurs when public servants demand or take money or favours in exchange for services, or when politicians misuse public money or grant public jobs or contracts to their sponsors, financiers, friends or families. It also involves corporations bribing public officials to get lucrative deals. But petty corruption, which involves smaller sums of money being paid to corrupt public officials to cut through bureaucratic red tape and grease pockets, also exists in the forms of bribery, extortion, kickbacks, fraud, blackmail, embezzlement, nepotism, cronyism and influence peddling. It also involves abuse of office for personal or political gain, or to pervert the course of justice. Check your recent memory and I’m sure you’ll recognise having encountered some form of corruption in recent days.

LESSONS FROM THE FRENCH RESISTANCE

To be honest, it is easy to understand why most people tolerate or ignore corruption. After all, corrupt persons usually wheel enough power and influence to frighten anyone into staying mum. The solution, however, isn’t to stand aside and let these people rob us and our children of a better life. Perhaps we should be like the Maquis of the French Resistance during World War 2. The Maquis was a group of individuals who fled to the woods and hills of France and opposed the German occupation during the war. Spies played a crucial role within the Maquis, providing intelligence to aid the Allied forces. When most people think of how the war was won, images of the D-Day landing, the raising of the flag over Iwo Jima and convoys of Allied tanks rolling into Berlin are most enduring.

THE MAQUIS

But what isn’t talked about as much is the impact of the Maquis and the French Resistance in the fight. Just to give you a quick history class, the Maquis started as a loosely connected network of resistance fighters. It included individuals from various backgrounds, including communists, liberals, conservatives, and others who opposed German occupation. Spies within the Maquis were responsible for gathering crucial intelligence about German military movements, installations, and plans. They operated in a clandestine manner, using various methods, such as eavesdropping, infiltrating German-controlled areas, and communicating information back to Allied intelligence.

As Jamaicans, we should take inspiration from this group and put up our own resistance and subversive efforts. We may not necessarily need to flee to the woods and hills of Jamaica, but the act of anonymously reporting and communicating information back to the relevant authorities is certainly within our grasp. And unlike the Maquis, we need not establish operations to infiltrate networks of corrupt individuals. Jamaica is so small, so compact, so corrupt, that you need not seek out corruption. It will find you. The question is, what do you now do with this information when it drops in your lap?

REPORT THEM

The answer is simple: Make use of the information-collecting mechanisms that are already in place. For example, the auditor general is a designated body to collect anonymous tips and complaints through its website or via email. Then there is the Integrity Commission, which is similarly tasked, as well as Selvin Haye and his team at the FID. And, of course, there’s MOCA, through its new Anti-Corruption tip line, 888-MOCA-TIP. The latter is powered by Crime Stop, an entity that has never had a source compromise in its 30-plus years of existence.

All of these entities have the mandate, tools and capabilities to carry out the necessary investigations into allegations of corruption and other wrongdoing. But critically, they need public support and information in order to act, as pointed out in that joint US-UK release last Saturday.

As citizens, we don’t always realise that we are often the solution to the problems we encounter. Law enforcement has already created safe and anonymous spaces for information to be collected, processed and actioned. It is now up to our people to do their part by exposing the scoundrels that are robbing us of our claim to be the nicest place on earth.

Major Basil Jarrett is a communications strategist and CEO of Artemis Consulting, a communications consulting firm specialising in crisis communications and reputation management. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Threads @IamBasilJarrett and linkedin.com/in/basiljarrett. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.