EDITORIAL - Corruption prosecutor would be welcomed

Greg Christie, the former contractor general whose cacophonous investigations and strident reports discomfited many public officials, often complained that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) seemed not too eager to bring before the courts those who failed to comply with provisions of the act he policed. He often called for a more robust fight against corruption, with strong institutional support for the engagement.

Mr Christie, of course, was not the only one who felt there was a gap between Jamaica's anti-corruption rhetoric and concrete action against the problem. The perception of Jamaica as a corrupt country is widely held. For instance, the island stands in the mid-tier of Transparency International's global Corruption Perception Index that ranks more than 180 countries.

Indeed, measured on the agency's corruption barometer last year, nearly two-thirds of Jamaicans felt that the problem had grown worse over the past year and few of the countries escaped the public's perception that they were mired in corruption. Approximately 80 per cent of us felt that government was run by a few big entities in their own interest, while 85 per cent thought that political parties were corrupt. Three-quarters of the population had the same view of the legislature and 47 per cent of the judiciary.

perception of corruption

With many studies suggesting a correlation between corruption and poor economic performance, such perception of corruption sits heavily on Jamaica's anaemic growth over the past four decades and more. Anti-corruption campaigners, therefore, are likely to welcome last week's tabling by the Government of a bill to establish a single anti-corruption agency, the Integrity Commission, and, particularly, its provision for a dedicated prosecutor of public corruption.

Under the new law, three existing agencies - covering the behaviour of politicians, public officials and the monitoring of government contracts - will be collapsed into the new entity. And while under the Constitution, the DPP still has the power to intervene, take over or discontinue any criminal proceeding, the anti-corruption agency will not have to wait on that office to institute one - a matter that so frustrated the existing agencies.

director of corruption prosecution

The proposed law will create a director of corruption prosecution who, except for the constitutional powers of the DPP, "shall not be subject to the direction of or control of any person, or anybody in relation to his prosecutorial functions under this act or any enactment".

While we endorse the proposed establishment of the position and the independence proposed for the prosecutor, it is important to note that his/her effectiveness will depend significantly on the performance of another proposed critical position in the agency - the director of investigations. It is that person who will oversee compliance with the law, including the procurement rules, as well as investigate allegations of corruption by public officials before forwarding his findings and recommendations to the commissioners.

The bottom line, therefore, is that while the bill, subject to deeper analysis, appears to represent a substantial move in the right direction, its success, ultimately, will depend on the quality of the people who occupy its key positions - starting with the five commissioners, inclusive of the auditor general. It is they who will recruit the critical staff.

In that regard, once the law has passed, the governor general, in making his appointments, must select people who take this matter of corruption seriously and are eager to root it out.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.