The way forward
THE CURRENT corruption architecture must be improved to ensure that we are getting the desired anti-corruption compliance. In the first instance, and as a preventive strategy, harsher penalties are needed for breaches of corruption laws. Regulators, prosecutors and anti-corruption agencies should also develop a shared understanding of how they intend to overcome the institutional and other challenges, in order to solve the problem and achieve desired outcomes. The implementation capacities should also be strengthened to ensure strict enforcement of the law, in an indiscriminate manner. This will guarantee perceptions of fairness, which can improve voluntary compliance with our corruption laws. In this regard, the necessary legislation should be passed in a timely manner to ensure that MOCA, a key anti-corruption agency, enjoys the full backing of the law. This will ensure that MOCA carries out its tasks without fear or any kind of reticence.
However, while the matter of enforcement is critical, taking a proactive approach to reduce the incidence and persistence of corruption is, obviously, an equally or more effective strategy. As a way of building shared beliefs about the meaning of corruption and the need for change, Jamaica needs a critical mass of diverse young leaders, social justice advocates and parliamentarians who are willing to be champions of a consistent anticorruption campaign. Also, a multi-sector strategy with broad-based participation from all groups in the society should be put in place to correct current weaknesses and build awareness about the corrosive effects of corruption on people’s daily life.
A campaign of this nature must start with a very open conversation about the main causes of corruption, the winners and losers of corruption, the reasons corruption remains so attractive in Jamaica and the key failings of politicians, policy elites, law enforcement, the private sector, civil society, and ordinary citizens. In other words, the discussion has to be broadened. This will lay the foundation for solutions that are grounded in the truth, an understanding of the complex nature of the problem and the need to solve the problem collectively, using legal, political, social and cultural tools. Failure to arrest the corruption problem will seriously retard Jamaica’s ability to achieve its development objectives and re(assert) the legitimacy of the state. It will also frustrate all efforts aimed at fostering values and social processes that are conducive to civic order, discipline, self-regulation and a prosperous society.