It is difficult to hear the JLP Claiming paternity for the Integrity Commission Act, without cringing at their effrontery, and unmitigated gall, in firstly seeking to defang, the Contractor General, Act, to subsume that office in that of the Toothless office of the Integrity Commission, over which they maintain intimidatory oversight.
Looking at the IC Act and its structure, one is compelled to ask what’s its purpose. And if it is really a paper tiger, then why are those charged with its administration, sitting there and compromising their reputations?
The Fact that the JLP would enact a law, ostensibly a Corruption Watchdog, charged with overseeing and regulating Politicians, then give those same Politicians, Veto Powers over those charged with administering the same law,. Should have caused well-thinking people to question, their motives, and the supposed promised efficacy?
That, the PSOJ and Other supposedly Non-Partisan, organizations whose primary concern, is that of the wellbeing of the State and Good Governance, did not find common cause and objected to the proposed composition of the IC, as was constructed, speaks to a dereliction of duty, an intellectual deficit and a lack of purpose, that should scare all those who are now being made aware of the severe limitations of the Integrity Commission that the JLP voted into Law.
That our Politicians have been Corrupt from inception, there’s no question, as thru the years, we have had a Mister 10-Percent, in the 60s who was credited; Another Minister Who Built Schools, that still cannot be found 50 years later; A politician who was voted out of office because his Constituents accused him of literally stealing a large parcel of land whilst he served as MP; And so many recorded acts of corruption from our first Independent Government up to this Administration, where we now have a new Minister Dubbed Mister 10Percent, None can morally argue against the need, for fearless regulators or invigilators, empowered to protect the Politicians from their pernicious greed.
That the JLP would seek to impanel a supposed Watchdog Body, with no independence, and or power, should have set the alarm bells ringing, but alas, in a country given to applauding Announcements, and not Deeds, that no one seriously scrutinized the new regulations governing the IC, save and except the Dr. Trevor Munroe Led, National Integrity Action,(NIA); and or Jamaicans For Justice, speaks to the paucity of what passes for informed discourse, and worse, of the shortsightedness of those who benefit from the Corruption of the processes and or leaders, and so look the other way, failing to take into account that whatever their short-term monetary and or social gain, will be shortlived, as sooner rather than later, the depleting effects of corruption on the National Coffers, will cause an implosion, that will create such instability, all their conspiracies would have been for naught.
Clearly, design as is, the Integrity Commission cannot function effectively, and if this is not clear to the PSOJ and its Leader Metry Seaga, someone should point this out to him and the PSOJ, so they can use their power, to lobby the Prime Minister, his Ministers, and the Administration generally, to amend the act, so that it can enforce accountability.
And this is not just About the hypocrisy of the PSOJ and Its Leader, this is about all the stakeholders, who have suddenly gone silent on their pronouncements on matters of National Importance, out of fear of upsetting their own applecarts, now that they are feeding at the trough, cause while they feed and grow rotund, the rest of the country, wearies from the pangs of hunger.
As Is, the Integrity Commission Act, bars the organization, from naming politicians who run afoul of its mandate, this is so very wrong on so many levels, you wonder why those who supported it and pushed it through, did. And why there is this constant chorus of Government Members, seeking to sully the reputation of not just the Commission, but of the Members, they appointed to serve?
It should be clear to all the ‘Honourable” Members of the House of Parliament, that in muzzling the Integrity Commission, they too have left themselves open to speculations about their own integrity, honesty and fitness to continue serving.
