Crusade against secrecy - Public barred from viewing financial disclosures of elected officials

Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

AS A measure to expose parliamentarians who might be dabbling in corruption, Jamaica's leading anti-corruption crusaders are urging legislators to remove the veil of secrecy that bars the public from viewing the financial disclosures filed by their members of parliament (MPs) annually.

Chief watchdog of the country's contracts-award process, Contractor General Greg Christie, informed The Sunday Gleaner that he would support a move towards public disclosure in the name of transparency and accountability.

"And, more particularly, in a strategic effort to publicly expose and bring to book those parliamentarians who might be involved in corrupt activities," said Christie in a written response to Sunday Gleaner queries.

Christie is not alone. Professor Trevor Munroe, director of the National Integrity Action Forum, is also putting his weight behind a push to amend the relevant sections of the

Parliament (Integrity of Members) Act that has, for almost 40 years, barred the public from viewing financial declarations filed by parliamentarians with the Integrity Commission.

In this day of access to information, employees and members of the Integrity Commission who handle the information filed by parliamentarians do so under pain of prosecution.

But Munroe, who is also a visiting fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at the University of the West Indies, wants the people who elect MPs to be able to view the financial standing of elected representatives.

"Unequivocally, yes! The relevant legislation should be amended to facilitate accessibility by the public to declarations made by parliamentarians," Munroe told The Sunday Gleaner. He added: "It would be an important development in the level of transparency, especially to strengthen our democracy, combating corruption, and raising the levels of integrity."

Munroe also called for the enforcement of the current law that has prescribed penalties for parliamentarians who flout the tenets of the act by not filing their financial disclosures, or who fail to provide additional information requisitioned by the Integrity Commission in the lawful execution of its duties.

worthy of thought

Pamela Monroe Ellis, auditor general, told The Sunday Gleaner that the idea of making the filed financial information available to the public was worthy of thought, especially "in an era where, globally, we are moving towards greater levels of transparency".

"Certainly, anything that would enhance people's trust is worthy of consideration," said Monroe Ellis, who sits on both the Integrity Commission and the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, which receives and keeps statutory declarations furnished by public servants pursuant to the Corruption Prevention Act.

At the same time, the contractor general, who is in Bangkok, Thailand, attending the 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), stated that it was interesting to note that the theme of the conference was 'Restoring Trust: Global Action for Transparency'.

Christie also noted that Barry O'Keefe, the IACC Council chair, in his opening statement to the conference, vividly pointed out that there was widespread disbelief in and suspicion about many national and international institutions, including government, because the average citizen believed that corruption continued to run under the counter.

"A good starting point, therefore, in restoring the trust is for parliamentarians to be open about their financial status coming into Government, and to make sworn annual public disclosures about changes in their financial affairs while they continue to hold office," Christie opined from the Bangkok conference at which 135 countries are represented.

He added: "This is undeniably true for Jamaica and many of its national institutions. There is no question that there is an abysmal lack of accountability, transparency, and adherence to good-governance principles in the affairs of our Government."

confidential activities

In the meantime, Alvin Chung, secretary manager of the Integrity Commission, told The Sunday Gleaner that all the activities of the commission were confidential. "It all depends on what you are going to ask me. It's useless (to ask because) I can't give you the information you might need," he said.

Chung explained that all members and employees of the commission are required to sign a secrecy document vowing not to reveal the information supplied by the MPs.

"It is not the Official Secrets Act, but it is a document, (and) the penalties for disclosure are outlined in the document.

"All information received is to be confidential, or you will be subject to the penalties in the (Integrity of Members) Act," he said.

Asked if he would support a push to make the declarations available to the public, Chung said: "I have no say in that matter. It is the parliamentarians who decide."

Chung said the commission's latest report, for the year ended 2009, should be tabled in Parliament soon by Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com