Imani Tafari-Ama | Corruption is a threat to democracy

For decades, corruption scandals have undermined successive regimes in the United States (US). Fraudulent officials have enriched themselves by exploiting the power they hold in office. The latest addition to this muddy saga is Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, who was indicted on all 16 counts of the corruption charges he recently faced. These accusations include bribery, acting as a foreign agent, and extortion and benefited accomplices in the Egyptian and Qatari governments.

Two of the senator’s cronies, successful businessmen from New Jersey, were also arraigned. The whistleblower was another entrepreneur who bought Menendez a Mercedes-Benz car, compensation for ill-gotten favours. Menendez’s wife’s trial has been delayed because she is suffering from breast cancer. Despite the evidence arrayed against him, Menendez was defiant and refused to relinquish his bid for re-election.

Corruption and politics are long-standing and close companions. This relationship is energised by the proximity of the perpetrators to the mechanisms that can be manipulated for material gains. Political practitioners would have to wear iron-cast blinkers not to be tempted by opportunities for personal enrichment.

Menendez, who migrated from Cuba back in the day, claims that the money that he was hoarding in his house was withdrawn from his savings account. Responding to the trial outcome, he concocted a tale that the cash was insurance against the trauma from which he suffers because of his early experiences of poverty in his home country. However, investigators did not buy this disclaimer, and countered that his wife received thousands of dollars in cash and gold from dishonest dealings.

GREEDY TRANSGRESSORS

Despite the establishment of moral and ethical rules governing the political arena, it seems inevitable that greedy transgressors will always violate these performance standards. While many corrupt politicians have been spotlighted for the damning deeds they do, it is rare for such crooked commandos to be apprehended to face the consequences of their actions.

Over the past year in Jamaica, speculation raged about the identities of the eight officials under investigation by the Integrity Commission (IC) for illicit enrichment. Although the IC’s report was tabled in Parliament, a gag order against the IC under the Integrity Commission Act has prevented disclosure of the identities of the individuals under probe.

Former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) member of parliament (MP) and Minister of Labour and the Public Service in the 1980s, J.A.G. Smith, is infamous for misappropriating funds that were designated for the farm work programme. He is also singular for having been caught and sent to prison to pay for his crime. It seems that being slick enough to avoid detection and damnation is a feature of success in the business of political corruption. This practice traverses and transcends national borders, as does the impunity with which barefaced politically connected crooks carry out their chicanery business.

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks corruption levels globally to measure such violations of moral political order. The CPI also assesses the extent to which public officials transgress good governance benchmarks. Countries are scored from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (uncontaminated). Despite ongoing efforts to contain the spread of the corruption contagion, this disease remains a rampant feature of government regimes around the globe.

The CPI has analysed corruption levels in 180 countries and concluded that countries, including Denmark, Norway, Finland and Singapore, are the cleanest, while Venezuela, South Sudan and Somalia are deemed to be among the most corrupt nation states. However, the methodology that was used to arrive at the corruption measures is suspect because it does not take the difference between peoples’ perceptions and individual culpability into consideration. In addition, poverty and wealth indicators are conflated with corruption tendencies, which results in misrepresentations.

SYSTEMATICALLY CORRUPT

Using this framework, Middle East and North African countries are classified as systemically corrupt, sabotaging democratic and human rights practices. Private interests are perceived to take precedence over the common good under such regimes. On the other hand, Western Europe and the European Union are assumed to have low levels of corruption. However, with the rise of right-wing regimes, transparency and accountability are also at a low ebb, with corruption on the rise.

Countries with well-protected civil liberties tend to have higher CPI scores, while those violating civil liberties often score lower. Asia-Pacific states are said to be riddled with corruption, while Sub-Saharan Africa is notorious for violations of public trust. African countries face challenges because of deep-seated corruption that hinders access to public services and natural resources, exacerbating threats to freedoms and democracy.

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic also provided excellent cover for corrupt government officials to siphon off public funds, without the checks and balances that could have been in effect under ‘normal’ circumstances. I often wonder how the Jamaican government was able to offer $10,000 to citizens ages 60 years and over as an incentive to be fully vaccinated. Where did that money come from, and where did the balance that was not used up go, because of the high levels of vaccine resistance among the population?

How can we rouse the society to be more proactive about tackling politicians and questioning the norms of corrupt practices? Is it because office-bearers are perceived to be untouchable, above the law, and beyond the judgement of mere mortals? Even critical thinkers tend to keep quiet because they think that they do not have the clout to question these ‘tapanaris’ people (as the leader of the Opposition referred to his cronies). In the wake of Hurricane Beryl damage, the hyperinflation of spending on recovery efforts – $4.7 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture’s assessment of the sector alone – has the ominous hallmarks of the very corruption considerations that should provoke healthy suspicions.

The lack of a critical civil society provides myriad loopholes for corrupt officials to slip through the cracks. Authoritarian styles of leadership enable political bosses to escape scrutiny and restrict rights and accountability measures, contributing to increased corruption. Although lip service is paid to democracy and human rights, corruption may still be rampant where checks and balances are lax. It is therefore essential to not only improve governance but also to safeguard human rights and democracy at all levels of society.

Imani Tafari-Ama, PhD, is a Pan-African advocate and gender and development specialist. Send feedback to i.tafariama@gmail.com