Anti-corruption legal framework to be in place soon
Barbados will soon move to ratify two international conventions and proclaim the relevant legislation as Government moves to address possible corruption in this country.
Word of this has come from Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Adriel Brathwaite, who indicated yesterday that Cabinet has already agreed to make that intention a reality. He made the comments during the debate in the House of Assembly yesterday morning to approve a supplementary to the tune of $591 067 for the Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
“There are two conventions we need to ratify – the Inter American Convention Against Corruption and the UN Convention Against Corruption. We signed both of them but they have not been ratified and our policy has been that we would not ratify conventions unless we have the legislative framework in place,” he explained.
With that in mind, the Attorney General indicated that in the new year the Organisation of American States will host the 8th Summit of the Americas with the theme focused on corruption, said that Government will ensure that prior to that conference both conventions are ratified. Moreover, he said that as a prerequisite for that, the Prevention of Corruption Act will also be proclaimed.
He made the point while also referring to issues of freedom of information, as he noted that unless there are national security considerations, that there is nothing that happens in his office that is not available to members of the public.
“We accept as a country and we accept as a government that indeed that we need to move to a new governance model and I embrace that. I have said on more than one occasion Mr. Chairman that I look forward to the day when we modernise our processes here in Parliament… I would love to be able for us, if required, to bring public officers here and have them explain whatever actions have been taken so the people of Barbados indeed feel that we have participatory democracy,” he said.
While he is adamant that such is the direction the country should be moving in, he acknowledged that Barbados has been challenged fiscally and therefore decisions had to be made as to what areas would be prioritised.
“It is a question of where you prioritise your resources when there is little in the pan to give; that’s all it is you know. There is no fight on this side in terms of where we would like to take this country in terms of improving democracy, but I will end as follows, at the time when the money was flowing in this country, when all these things were being talked about and attainable they weren’t done, but being in Opposition in hard, you see everything clearly when you are in Opposition,” he said. (JRT)