Winning the war on corruption

Martin Henry

Last Thursday and Friday, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) hosted a regional anti-corruption seminar and workshop themed 'Towards Regional Cooperation for Anti-Corruption'. The cops were rash enough to ask me to deliver the main address at the opening ceremony and much of what I have to say in the column today was said then.

Last week was not a good one for public perception of corruption in the JCF. Several officers were arrested on corruption charges. But, then again, viewed from the angle of the fight against corruption within the JCF itself, the week could be considered a successful week for the force.

And we note in passing that the police commissioner in Barbados was 'retired' last week 'in the public's interest' by that CARICOM state's Police Services Commission.

Meanwhile, here in Jamaica, a high-profile case is making its way through the courts involving a courageous traffic officer and allegations of unlawful interference by persons in business, politics and the police with the serving of a ticket for a minor traffic offence.

In 'Snowden' data, which came to hand a few days ago, and which I have been warned not to release, a certain 'Corruption Barometer' based on surveys of Daily Lives and Corruption: Public Opinion in the Americas, is indicating that across the Americas, it is only political parties which are outranking the police in public perceptions of corruption. And for Jamaica, both are on par.

We can take heart, though, in the fact that these are only public perceptions rather than empirical measures. More than half of the people in the Americas feel that corruption has increased in their country over the last two years.

In the case of Jamaica, I am willing to bet one Jamaican dollar, which I can afford to lose as it is now worth less than one US cent, that the people are wrong. In the last few years, anti-corruption measures have produced greater transparency, greater compliance with regulations, and almost certainly somewhat less corruption than what prevailed in the good old days.

And almost certainly we have a somewhat cleaner police force - a clear inference to be drawn from Commissioner Ellington's article, 'Fighting corruption in the police force', carried by the Observer last Sunday.

In a rather perverse kind of way, heightened public concern about corruption may be measuring greater awareness of, and greater objection to corruption, rather than any real increase in actual corruption. In any case, the people of the Americas mostly consider corruption to be a serious to very serious problem.

The JCF and police forces across the region have critical roles to play in pushing corruption in the right direction - down. A direction in which our more objective, dispassionate and evidence-based assessment suggests corruption is moving.

And here let me offer you Henry's formula for reducing corruption further, faster. Nothing new. Nothing different. Just pulling strands together with one eye on our situation and the other on international best practice. Jamaica, my patch of the Caribbean for the last 50-plus years, is our specific case study:

The legislative framework for pursuing corruption should be overhauled and strengthened. In the last 30 years, a number of specific anti-corruption agencies have been established, joining older anti-corruption agencies. Their effectiveness and their needs for greater effectiveness must be thoroughly assessed. These agencies themselves and the broader civil society must advocate for change with evidence-based reasons.

The consultative coalition of anti-corruption agencies, public agencies and NGOs, in the National Integrity Action Forum, out of which National Integrity Action (NIA) emerged as a not-for-profit company, was a useful idea that must not be allowed to die, or, if dead, should be resurrected. It is going to need leadership and a bit of financial support.

Government vs OCG

Government has committed to a single anti-corruption agency to absorb and strengthen the work of three existing anti-corruption agencies: the Integrity Commission, the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, and the Office of the Contractor General. The NIA has advocated the move. But as a freedom-loving and freedom-defending citizen, I sound my usual note of caution that every precaution be taken to avoid abuses of this concentration of power.

The ongoing stand-off between the executive of Government and the OCG, an agency of the legislature, over the monitoring of development projects is a significant matter. This is part of the much larger concern of effectively balancing the imperatives of fighting corruption with the imperatives of proceeding with governance in an effective and efficient manner.

The time has come for a full and frank review of the procurement process in Government and of the role of the OCG in this regard, firmly bearing in mind balancing the imperatives of fighting corruption with the imperatives of proceeding with governance in an effective and efficient manner.

Whenever dealing with the Government is complicated, frustrating, and stressful, citizens quite rationally seek shortcuts to reduce the hassle and are prepared to pay a parallel fee under the table.

I want to make a plea in an area badly neglected in the fight against corruption: simplifying procedures for dealing with the Government by citizens at every point. People are making rational, cost-effective decisions to pay their way around obstructive systems, and the holders of public offices of various sorts are more than willing to 'assist' in return for personal gain.

Seventy-two per cent of Jamaicans feel that personal contacts and personal relationships are important to very important to get things done in dealing with the public sector.

Sierra Leone, with a prosecutorial Anti-Corruption Commission, has slashed corruption at Customs by drastically reducing the number of steps required to clear goods.

We must absolutely reduce discretionary authority in the fight against corruption. And we could begin with ministerial authority like granting waivers. But let's not forget the discretionary 'authority' of a petty desk officer in the public service to determine appointment dates as he or she pleases with a massive built-in incentive to shorten wait time by greasing the palm.

Keep the rules clear and simple, and they must be applied by the book to every case, or else. It is not for nothing that the public service is called a bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is not always a dirty word; it just means a rules-bound organisation.

We must ensure that no single officer, whether political or public service, is in charge of multiple steps in the system. Having simplified procedures in straight-line fashion - do A, then B - each step should preferably be handled by a separate service provider.

Transparency must be built into transactions. Corruption loves the dark. Mechanisms for monitoring and review must be devised and operated, and the age of information technology makes this quite easy.

Having cleaned up the system, heads of agencies must be put on the line. Endemic corruption in Agency X, or Unit Y, must mean active collusion or dereliction of duty, leading to at least being fired and up to prison time.

costs of corruption

This country is Bly Land, not Beulah Land. Jamaicans love and expect receiving corrupt favours as much as the providers love benefiting from providing them. Reducing corruption further is going to require a major public-education, public-awareness, public-understanding effort as the basis for public outrage.

The costs of corruption to everyone are higher than the personal benefits which drive the process. The general citizenry will have to be taught to connect cause and effect, even while the other things are done. For this, the media and agencies of civil society have critical roles to play. There has to be an uprising of public outrage.

While the JCF focuses on internal housecleaning, the law - old and new - must be rigorously policed. A handful of big-fish prosecutions will have a far greater salutary effect than a hundred sprat cases further cluttering up the logjammed judiciary.

The police must move aggressively to pursue Mr and Mrs Ten Per Cent, wherever they may exist in the political and public-service Establishment. If the street 'knows' them, the police can pin them down with careful investigative work. This, for me, is a critical index of the commitment of the JCF to fight state corruption.

Sierra Leone, starting further back than most CARICOM states, has successfully prosecuted former government ministers and high-ranking civil servants, once thought untouchable, on corruption charges.

Wrapping around these simple recommended actions must be strong political commitment and leadership from the front to make the thing work. Resources for action have to be provided by the State. And there has to be growing civil-society pressure.

And nothing encourages success like success. We need more clear, concrete, measurable results, especially of the sort that will capture public imagination.

boosting police force

A word of managerial caution to the JCF about how not to proceed with fighting corruption within this anti-corruption agency itself. A fundamental function of organisational leadership to achieve strong organisational performance is motivation and building morale.

If the internal anti-corruption drive of the JCF, or any other police force for that matter, overrelies on punitive measures and leadership appears to be out to get the men and women in the operational trenches, as now appears to be the case to an outsider looking in, morale is going to suffer a body blow.

The force should rely more on building transparency within operations, more on reducing discretionary powers. Rely more on preventing than on punishing. Turn the searchlight upon operational leadership which must be held responsible and accountable for the actions of the men and women under their command.

A friendly word of advice to the commissioner. Top leadership must very visibly appear to be for the women - and men- out there on the front line and in one of the most dangerous policing environments in the world. Let ACP Selvin Hay, who now heads the Anti-Corruption Branch, wield the hatchet when it absolutely must be wielded, and let him take the rap! As he will have to do for inviting me to give the opening address at the start of the anti-corruption forum!

Martin Henry is a communication specialist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and medhen@gmail.com.