As far as I am concerned, the surprise of the Wikileaks revelations is not the biggest problem besetting our country. Even more profound than the day-to-day leaks is the unbelievable complacency of the Jamaican people. It is just amazing that the more we learn about the devious and corrupt practices of our politicians on both sides of the fence is the more complacent and apathetic we become.
I'm not sure that there is any place on Planet Earth, not even the countries with dictatorships (interestingly enough, those are now being toppled by people power), where the citizens remain so incredibly passive in the face of blatant governmental malfeasance and the resultant levels of economic and social decay.
It seems to me that the Americans must be wondering whether we have lost our minds. They must be asking themselves, "How is it that we have been able to disclose so much wrong within the Jamaican body politic, yet nothing is being done to bring anybody to book or to fix the problem?" It is clear to me that the US must be continually hard-pressed to find people inside the political arena that are clean - hence the Peter Phillips' dilemma. What must be even more disappointing to the Americans is that they must be equally hard-pressed to find people with integrity within the Jamaican private sector as well.
The former US Ambassador Sue Cobb seemed to have been keenly aware of the problem. In a speech given in 2003, "Combatting Corruption: Towards a New Era of Accountability", Cobb emphasised, "Until the cost of being corrupt outweighs the benefit, many people would simply find no reason to stop. An important key to fighting corruption, therefore, is to identify those who are engaged in corruption and ensure that they are exposed and punished."
She went on to add, "Another key in the fight against corruption - as you know - is the private sector. Public sector officials - by and large aren't going around bribing each other, so it is vital that the private sector understand the costs of corruption - the economic costs as well as the personal costs - and refuse to encourage it, accept it, or wink at it."
The former ambassador continued, "Jamaica has taken a major step in this regard with the recent passage of the Access to Information Act, which allows citizens to see information on how government decisions are made and will help ensure that those decisions are based on objective criteria. But the mere passage of such an act is insufficient if the rights it grants are not used to thwart corruption. And that is the challenge that is laid before Jamaicans - to actively monitor - to be the watchdog against corruption. So the question is, now that the tool has been created will it actually be used? Will people in this room feel safe enough to stand up, speak out, and help in the process?" Asserted Cobb, "Identifying corruption in government is not very useful if there is no mechanism to punish the corrupt."
Sue Cobb was not unaware of the hypocrisy of her comments. After stating the following, "But of course the US can only do so much - at some point the fight against corruption has to come from within," she added, "Now you may be sitting there thinking, Well this is well and good, but why is an American lecturing us on corruption when we only need to turn on our televisions to see scandal after scandal in America? That's certainly a reasonable criticism. America has had its fair share of corrupt businesses, government leaders and dirty money..." However, she added,
"Consider the following: America triumphs over corruption. Because we do not have parliamentary immunity, Ohio Congressman James Traficant, was tried, convicted and expelled from Congress... and because we have protection for whistleblowers, a former Speaker of the State of Florida Senate was this month sent to jail - because a concerned citizen brought his illegal activities to light."
Cobb's speech and American hypocrisy aside, what about our own sense of decency and integrity as Jamaicans? What are our response and our responsibility to stamp out corruption? Long before interests in the media began describing the two main political parties as "gangs", every Jamaican was aware that we have been governed for a long time by political leaders that have had shady dealings and associations. We have all been aware of the deep levels of corruption inside government and throughout the private sector, but we have done nothing about it.
I wish to remind all of us that were it not for Uncle Sam, the Dudus Coke empire which spanned both the PNP and JLP administrations would be perfectly intact today, ingratiating its powerful friends and wreaking murderous havoc on young men, women and defenceless children. It is interesting that since Dudus's removal, crime has fallen dramatically. It goes to show how deep and how wide the drug lord's sphere of influence was inside and outside of Jamaica.
In functioning democracies, a mere hint of corruption of a political leader would result in prosecutorial procedures. Not in Jamaica. The layers of lies, half-truths, the killings in Tivoli Gardens, and clear-cut connections associated with the Dudus Coke/Manatt affair have not resulted in anybody being fingered for accountability, let alone prosecuted. Every day the grinding wheel of corruption keeps turning while the country looks on. If in fact Jamaica is being run by two gangs, the question is, "So what?"
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