Discuss workable solutions to the scourge of corruption and political tribalism in Jamaica.

Corruption is by no means an observable fact that is confined to Jamaica alone, it is, nevertheless, considered by many to be the largest single impediment to our country’s ability to attain sustained economic growth and development. According to Rose-Ackerman 2001 corruption is defined as the dishonest behaviour that violates the trust placed in a public official. The behaviour of such unlawful actions occurs in instances when government officials and employees abuse their power for financial or non-financial gain to obtain personal benefits and or political interests for their families, or their social networks. Presently, corruption is a major global concern as there is an abundant of evidence that it has the capacity to undermine democracy, rule of law, as well as to drive fragile and developing countries, like Jamaica who is ranked eighty three (83) on the list of the world most corrupted countries.
According to former Contractor General Greg Christie, “corruption has slowly deteriorated the quality of life of many in our society, as it has denied mainly the lower class citizens in Jamaica access to basic things to which they are entitled, such as water, electricity, roads, health care, housing and education.” This is as a result of many government officials not equally distributed the funding garnered to the betterment of its citizens but instead selfishly used it for their personal interest. It also lends a hand in violating human rights, unfair political elections and also reduces investor confidence. Corruption is guilty of undermining critical public institutions and enables organized crime and other threats to human security to flourish.
If the government has any chance to rid the country of corruption then there must be administrative reform, investigative agencies and education.
It is imperative that the government undertakes reform initiatives in its administration aimed at restructuring the state machinery by improving government mechanisms, working conditions and administrative procedures; and minimizing the steps involved in granting licenses. The introduction of new reform initiatives will help to minimize administrative paper work. The reduction of the extensive paperwork trail or number of channels and red tapes that people will have to go through will aid in minimizing and eventually, eliminate, conditions in which corruption can exist. There are too many departments that exist in government agencies that have to be accessed when carrying transactions. Administrative reform will give birth to new mechanisms, such as auditing and inspection, which will demand a more open and accountable work practices within the crucial government agencies in our country. The aim of this measure is to efficiently combat and eliminate corruption across the administration. During the reforming process the government must build a bureaucracy of good that will foster and attract honest civil servants.
The recruiting of civil service workers must be done fairly through open examinations, while the position occupied by those in management through election and appointment must be done in an open, equitable and democratic processes. In the same breath, to improve the overall administrative reform, the government must address salaries and other compensation of civil servants to ensure that civil servants can maintain a decent standard of living. This key aspect of the reform initiative will eliminate illegal activity for financial compensation.
Secondly, there is a need for the establishment where none presently exist and also the strengthening of investigative watchdog agencies along the lines of Jamaica's Office of the Contractor General but with powers both in the capacity of financial and human resources, to arrest and to prosecute officers of the country who are caught in illegal activities. This will ensure that there are no illegal activities taking place in areas such as the awarding of government contract and the spending of the public purse. This of course will be done with appropriate constitutional and judicial safeguards against the abuse of power. Too often there are controversial issue regarding the issuing of contracts and the spending of country’s money.
Finally, education plays an important role in the fight against corruption. The problem in Jamaica it that the majority of our citizens are not aware they roles, rights, responsibilities and the enormous effect they have on determining how the country is being governed. Citizens who are better informed of the corruption that exist within their political systems are able to fight corruption more effectively as well as to partner with other organizations such as the National Integrity Action (NIA) to do so. It is also extremely important to educate people about their rights, especially those who have limited access to such information, such as those living in remoteness and poverty. The teaching of civic education in our school system is very important if we are to have any chance of stemming the growth of corruption.
Civic education is a key component in the fight against corruption. Through civic education citizens can learn about their rights and also what good governance entails. They will also learn about the effects of corruption and how it lowers their standard of living. It also allows citizens to think and act against corruption, thus developing their expectation for good citizenship and good governance.
Undoubtedly, political tribalism has become a destructive vice in today’s society that is not only seriously dividing and hurting the image of Jamaica. It also appears to have as some of its siblings, corruption in government contracting, organized crime, and political campaign financing, all of which seem to have been happily working together, in a perfect symphony, for some time. Besides corruption, political tribalism is, perhaps, the next single largest impediment to the country’s attainment of sustained economic growth and social development. It is incumbent on us as a nation to put forward a plan that will put an immediate end to it before it destroys and decimates all of us. Jamaica’s only hope of combating political tribalism is implement measures for better accountability of funds used on political campaigns, organized crime and the restructuring of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. There have been great efforts made in recent times to combat the scourge of criminal activities in the force and there has been success in the increase apprehension and prosecution of corrupt members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. It is therefore in this regard that they follow recommendations that are being made to implement strategies that will combat major, organized and transnational crime. This has also given rise to INDECOM, an independent organization set up to investigate incidents where police shooting are done. This organization has deterred the influence of political tribalism by prosecuting individuals in the force who exercises extrajudicial force. Members should be mandated to, by way of declarations to inform the Operations Officer in any division or formation of any cash or other valuables which they have in their possession before going on certain operations. Every effort should be made to ensure that searches and other aspects of the operations are video-taped. This will show transparency and offer valuable protection to members involved in the searches. The declaration of cash and valuables in their possession are their raids. Whenever possible, on the spot debriefings must be conducted, particularly after any operation which involves seizure of cash or other valuables. , members will be subjected to on the spot searches and articles found in their possession checked against those previously declared on the declaration forms. Elections in Jamaica are very costly and the winner of the election is determined by the party that has the most money to spend. Over the years elections in Jamaica has been secretly funded by unknown donors who spends millions of dollars to ensure that their political party of choice is return as head of government. As we all know nothing is done for free when money is being spent on such great magnitude. The awarding of contract that worth millions of dollars are awarded to specific companies even when there is a more qualified bidder, exemption of taxes and jobs in statutory organizations are but a few of the fringe benefits that are bestowed. The effects of this form of blatant tribalistic corruption are far reaching and can have a lasting effect. The Jamaican government whichever party needs to have stringent measures for monitoring their operations including to declare and disclose the source of their money used to finance their campaign. This has force the powers that be to create a legislature to force political parties to declare where campaign financing is derived and in what amount. Accountability is vital in any order of business to ensure transparency.
Organized crime in Jamaica has been prevalent and increases daily. Deep seated influencing factors that have been diabolical are the driving forces of power and need. There are those who manipulate others (those in need) and the system to “rule”. This is often times enforced for a very lucrative profit (money and assets) of which no government will receive any form of taxes. These are also the persons who will steal electricity from JPS and water from NWC. These are the persons who feel that they are above the law and certain ‘rules and regulations’ do not apply to them. This is not only the “Don” of an area but also the “Big Man” with the big business.
Organized crime does not only spurn corruption but is more often than not an extension of political tribalism. The ‘area-dons” and “big-man” are usually affiliated and is an avid support of a political party. This has given rise to the creation of garrison communities. This is where a community only votes for a particular party. This is enforced by the don.
The organized crime has also created a monster which has tentacles that reaches into places that are often unseen and unexpected. It has mutated and created a new form of terror namely the drugs and gun trade. This has crossed the boundaries of our shores and has affected other countries.
To rid the communities of these undesirable influences there must be a strategic and systematic programme of employment and education opportunities. Only through self-sufficiency and education will the influence of the dons be broken and persons be given the chance to exercise their democratic right in selecting who they would like to rule as government without any undue influence. This right is something which was hard fought and persons lost their live so that we can have this right.