Corruption coalition - Christie teams up with MOCA, FID

The Greg Christie-led Integrity Commission is moving swiftly to strengthen its capacity to move against corruption in the public sector by forging alliances with other major anti-corruption bodies.

While addressing the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee (ICOC) in Gordon House on Tuesday, Christie reported that the anti-corruption body has had meetings with a number of law-enforcement agencies.

He said that the commission has already met with Commissioner of Police Antony Anderson, the leadership of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency, the Financial Investigations Division and the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime division of the force.

“We have sent to all of them a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU), which Section 7 of the (Integrity Commission) Act contemplates, and we are now in advanced discussions to settle those MOUs with a view of collaborating,” said Christie.

“Although we need more investigators, we also recognised that by working with established law-enforcement agencies and relying upon those resources and assets, it would mean that we do not have to come to the country or to the Government and make additional demands,” he added.

At Tuesday’s ICOC meeting, the executive director also indicated that the anti-corruption body would be recommending to Parliament that its current staff complement of 135 be increased by 10.

He noted that the commission was set up with three operational divisions but none addressed the question of how to prevent corruption.

The three divisions are information and complaints, investigations, and corruption prosecution.

Christie said that the commission was in the process of establishing a fourth operational division that would focus on preventing corruption through public education.

According to Christie, the new division would also interrogate public body processes and procedures to identify systems that create fertile ground for corruption, irregularity or impropriety.

Under the Integrity Commission Act, the anti-graft body can make recommendations to the Government to plug loopholes that facilitate corruption.