By Kimberly Ramkhalawan
kramkhalawan@caribmagplus.com
December 10, 2021
Much of the pandemic’s emergency funding more than likely got caught up in the web of corruption through bureaucracy and lack of transparency. Just one of the findings put forward during this year’s conference.
Reports suggesting that rampant misappropriation of funds during the COVID-19 pandemic that occurred in regional states was part of the agenda during day two of the Caribbean Development Bank’s Three Cs Conference.
Corina Rebegea, Anti-Corruption Advisor of the National Democratic Institute says the pandemic has impacted the fight against corruption, as many have used it as a cover to dip deeper into the public purse.
Digitization has fast tracked the movement of applying for government services and funding during the pandemic, impediments still existed. Rebegea says government oversight in some areas were missed because of this. She adds that oversight and accountability mechanisms were actually weakened during the pandemic, whether lack of parliamentary procedures shut down due to the public health regulations, delays in staff not at office performing duties, legislature not involved in the pandemic relief process all spoke to the challenges faced in having an effective impact on pandemic responses.
Dr Nikos Passas, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in the US, says checks and balances must be in place even during times of emergencies to ensure transparency and accountability. He says the notion that emergency funding does not cater for the usual due process and anti-corruption controls, to some degree while understandable, it is the wrong way to approach he problem. To him, emergencies call for even greater protection of financial provisions, because it pertains to assisting the vulnerable. Passas added that most often the public accepts the premise that other things come first and anticorruption is the least of priorities in such a situation, when in fact there are many using it as an opportunity.
CDB President Dr Gene Leon quoted research from the International Monetary Fund at yesterday’s launch, estimating the cost of bribery equivalent to a total economic loss of approximately 2 percent of global gross domestic product per year.
But apart from the pandemic, another issue that came up during the two day forum, was campaign financing.
Dr James Anderson, Integrity, Compliance and Accountability Officer, CDB says while corruption does exist in every nation, there are specific drivers, and while most will say institutional public accountability mechanism allow for controls to be in place. He adds that the more you look into it you find complexities, and the more often it is spoken about gives the perception that corruption is quite normal in society.
Speaking to the safeguarding of those coming forward on corruption activity, Dr Darran Newman, advisor to CDB’s vice-president of operations says institutions need to be mindful of their frameworks set up for whistleblowers. She called for the citizens and parties involved in programmes that involve financing and funding to be briefed from an early onset, so they can look for signs and know the appropriate ways to report. Dawn De Coteau, Caribbean attorney says drivers in the region have shown to revolve around campaign financing, and while understandable to an extent, she says the conversation must be had, and at the appropriate time and not when convenient to politicians.
This year’s two-day conference was held under the theme, ‘Ending Poverty and Driving Growth… Promoting Good Governance by Curbing Corruption, Money Laundering and Cybercrime in the Caribbean’.