NIA claims Gov’t has ‘no appreciation for corruption perception’
... Hill urges Jamaicans to stop labelling politicians ‘crooked’
Published:Thursday | June 22, 2023 | 1:54 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
Anti-corruption lobby National Integrity Action (NIA) has accused Cabinet minister Aubyn Hill of being “arrogant” and seeking to downplay the widely held view that many Jamaican politicians are corrupt.
At a post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday, Hill, the minister of industry, investment and commerce, challenged Jamaicans to provide evidence to support corruption claims against politicians.
“It is easy to say a politician or a business tycoon or a preacher is corrupt, but it is not easy to prove it,” he said.
Hill added: “So we must get to the place in Jamaica where we stop just saying and tweeting and Instagramming, and whatever else we want to use to say politicians are crooked … . You show me where they have been, give me the evidence, and if there is the evidence, you call out the politician.”
However, Danielle Archer, principal director of the NIA, argued that Hill’s comments ignore the established view that Jamaicans have of entrenched corruption among the political class.
“It ignores the perception, it is an arrogant response, and it is a response that indicates that they have no appreciation for the Corruption Perception Index provided by and shared with the public by Transparency International.
“These are the very same persons, the political directorate, who are responsible for ensuring that there is adequate, effective legislation that treats with issues of corruption,” Archer said.
Further to that, the anti-corruption advocate emphasised that many Jamaicans are of the view that one aspect of corruption is nepotism, which is facilitated by many politicians.
“We have a plethora of evidence wherein politicians have utilised their positions to benefit their friends and family. However, because we do not have the requisite laws, they cannot be effectively persecuted.”
“So the fact that he is demanding evidence, ignores the reality that corruption does exist.
“The fact that he is demanding evidence in an environment where the very same politicians are castigating the Integrity Commission with a clear intent to neuter their intent is a cause for concern,” Archer said.
She also pointed to the varying reports from the Integrity Commission, the contractor general and the auditor general, which have indicated that where there is a conflict of interest, no accountability and transparency with the use of public funds, the public is entitled to ascribe that they have been misappropriated and “where they have been misappropriated the public is entitled to deem that an evidence of corruption”.
Going back to the minister’s comments, she said: “What he ought to have done is to recognise that the public is demanding accountability and not belittle the public for its concerns about how politicians conduct themselves and use public resources.”
Two weeks ago, The Sunday Gleaner published an article based on a poll conducted in collaboration with Northern Caribbean University, which found that politicians had surpassed the police as the most corrupt group, according to public perception. The politician had topped the list with 44.6.
The minister’s views arose, however, after he was asked whether the recently tabled new job descriptions would help parliamentarians and Cabinet ministers be more accountable.
Hill, while expressing his satisfaction with the establishment of the job descriptions, said: “Accountability is not wrong. Accountability is right. Accountability is what the Andrew Holness administration has been saying.”
Newly minted Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr also shared his views on the document, noting that it was a positive step in the governance structure in Jamaica.
More importantly, he said it would help parliamentarians and government ministers to know what they are being held accountable for and allow citizens to have a better understanding of the parameters of those responsibilities.
He noted, however, that the document would not be able to capture sufficiently all the responsibilities and tasks that the ministers are asked to perform by citizens.