28 December, 2006

Corruption







Cor
ruption”.
Transparency Interna
tional has argued for years that acts of corruption involve a giver (the supply side) and a taker (the demand side). TI advocates strong measures to curb bribery’s supply side, including the criminalisation of overseas bribery under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Steps to curb the demand side include disclosure of assets for public officials and adoption of codes of conduct. It is up to foreign legislatures to criminialise overseas bribery. Only we here in Anguilla can insist that our public officials disclose their assets and adopt codes of conduct. What are we doing about it? By comparison with our lackadaisical approach, the new administration in Nevis shows us how it can be done here.

As a minimum we in Anguilla also need an Integrity Act to govern the conduct of Ministers and senior public servants. The present system where the Anguilla Public Service Integrity Board must wait until the governor decides to pass a matter to the Board for advice is not satisfactory. We need a permanent Commission to hear complaints from the public. It must have the power to investigate ministers and public servants. It should have the power to summon witnesses and to prosecute those who obstruct its activities. We need better Finance Regulations to clearly outline the procedures for the management and accounting of government finances. We need a Procurement Act to establish a central Tenders Board to award all public contracts and to lay out the procedures for competitive bidding. We need an Ombudsman to assist ordinary members of the public who are oppressed by administrative inaction and unfairness.




3 comments:

  1. I find this article, ANGUILLA'S PUBLIC SERVICE EXCELS "Your Are Not Corrupt" Civil Servants Told
    Publishing date: 16.09.2005 10:45 very interesting.

    http://www.anguillian.com/article/articleview/2808/1/140/

    I suppose corruption only applies to politicians in Anguilla. Too often we thread on egg shells in AXA because we are afraid to offend certain people. But, if we really want to rid AXA of this potential evil, lets go after every aspect of the society. Anything less, and we will have only ourselves to blame when the wrath of CHAOS is unleashed.

    Transparency - Every Anguillian has a right to know what each board member and CEO makes on companies that seek public funding.

    Acountability - We have a right to see clealy how each penny is spent in every department. Department Heads must account for each penny they spent.

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  2. Corruption is not just what our leaders are doing. It is also what happens when we turn our eyes away from graft and greed. We the members of the public are who encourage and support corruption at all levels. There are plenty of examples I could give. No need to mention names.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Perhaps it's time to remove our hands from our eyes. COrruption is all around us.

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    ReplyDelete

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