The cancer of corruption

Din Duggan, Contributor

I'M NOT A doctor, nor did you ask for my opinion, but I have a diagnosis to make. I hope you're sitting down. I'm sorry to inform you that you have cancer.

Why me? What type of cancer? Is it treatable? These questions will naturally flood your mind.

You might even reflect on the moments that shaped your life: Arawaks hunting and fishing in simple communities, Spanish and British conquerors, African slaves toiling to create wealth for their masters, Nanny and the Maroons struggling for emancipation, and George William Gordon and Sam Sharpe dying for the rights of the poor and disenfranchised. You might remember Marcus Garvey's fight for racial equality and cultural liberation and Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley's struggles for workers' rights, universal suffrage, and independent statehood.

Perhaps you recall the hopes and dreams of a young, independent nation, or cheerfully remember the fun times rooting for Herb McKenley and Usain Bolt; making successful trips to France and Beijing; dancing in the street to The Heptones, Bob Marley, Beres Hammond and Beenie Man; gawking at beautiful women like Lisa Hannah and Yendi Phillips and laughing with Oliver Samuels and Louise Bennett. Your resolve and determination harden. You've overcome crises before. Surely, this is no time to relent. This is the soliloquy of a wounded nation.

The cancer

Jamaica's cancer is not unlike others. Body cells grow and replicate through a process of mitosis. With each replication the genetic code shortens until further replication is no longer possible. Cancer-causing cells occur quite regularly within the human body. However, these cells usually 'commit suicide' or are extinguished by the immune system.

In some instances, cellular replication continues relentlessly - ignoring the myriad of complex external cues that usually regulate the process. This rapid and unchecked growth in abnormal cells sometimes results in the formation of cancerous tumours. These tumours essentially become new organs within the body - sucking away vital nutrients and blood from other places to feed their own existence.

They drain the body's energy and vitality and ultimately, through the process of metastasis, infiltrate and colonise tissue elsewhere in the body. The results are often terminal. This is the situation Jamaica is facing. This is the cancer of corruption.

The cells of governance have become corrupted. They have ignored external pressures, failed to self-regulate and avoided systemic efforts to destroy them. They have grown unyieldingly and have metastasised. The cancer has spread to the highest levels of the public sector. Bribery, extrajudicial killings and cover-ups are mainstays of law enforcement. Cronyism and political patronage dominate the 'free' marketplace. Few in leadership respect even the appearance of propriety. The prognosis is bad. The condition is unsustainable. Treatment must begin, now.

The Cure

The cancerous elements that are sucking the lifeblood from our society must be identified and removed. They drain public resources and undermine economic development and efficient distribution of goods and services. Public investment is diverted to historically corruptible projects. Financial, environmental and other regulations are subverted. If left untreated, these corrupt elements will drain trust and other democratic values, completely circumventing the government's ability to maintain effective control of the country. The body - the State - will fail.

In 2007, the Jamaica Labour Party rode a wave of reformist sentiment to power. They claimed to possess the prescription for progress. The country believed them. More than three years later, it is now painfully obvious that their remedy was merely replication of the same damaged and decayed cells of malignancy that overcame their predecessors.

Lord Acton, the historian and moralist, aptly noted that "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." The only cure for this debilitating disease is to remove our faith in men and their natural propensity for fallacy and folly and replace it instead with an unwavering commitment to proven systems of democracy and liberty. We must firmly commit to separating executive and legislative functions of government. We need to reform campaign finance rules to promote transparency and place transfor-mative power back in the hands of the common man. We must demand mandatory public disclosure of politicians' assets. There exists no other cure for this cancer. To quote Bustamante, we must do these things to "protect society from the excesses and corruption of power that will be found wherever power resides."

But, as I warned, I'm no doctor. So, be sure to get a second opinion.

Din Duggan is an attorney and entrepreneur who now works as a consultant with a global legal search firm. Contact him at facebook.com/dinduggan, twitter.com/YoungDuggan, or dinduggan@gmail.com.