O for an end to corruption!

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

BEFORE GREG Christie, there were Derrick McKoy as contractor general and Adrian Strachan as auditor general - all fierce anti-corruption warriors in the battle against corruption in high places, especially the public sector.

Yet, for all of the war waged, apprehension that the country is being overrun by blue-collar illegal activities remains high in Jamaica.

Perhaps this is indicative of a shift away from the legacy of the Anancy fables of a past generation in which many Jamaicans proudly aligned themselves to the wily character's ability to outsmart others. The annual corruption index and reports from the auditor general's office, as well as the Office of the Contractor General and parliamentary committees, have seen to it.

Ministry officials would quake when they were summoned to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to allegations contained in Strachan's reports.

The Standing Orders (Number 69) of the House of Representatives gives the PAC the mandate to, inter alia, examine the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by the legislature to meet public expenditure.

The committee is also empowered to audit other accounts referred to it by the House of Representatives.

Like Strachan, current Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis is fearless, calling for changes to address what she describes as major deficiencies in the financial transactions and accounting systems.

The document from Monroe Ellis' office, which has been obtained by The Sunday Gleaner, calls for "a review of the entire internal audit system in Government".

The more recently established Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) of Parliament, chaired by Opposition Member Dr Wykeham McNeill, has also taken the stance of the PAC.

It is left to be seen whether the PAC, under the new leadership of Dr Peter Phillips - in his capacity of opposition spokesman on finance - will be able to reignite the fire that once burned in this arena.

But despite the anti-corruption battles, the spectre of dishonesty continues to haunt governance and public leadership.

Twenty years after Strachan, the scourge continues, touching just about every fibre of governance and public life.

Christie jumped into the spotlight. But unlike Strachan, he charges thunderously into battle, leaving infuriated politicians on both sides of the divide fuming. And some private citizens too.

Now, Christie, lauded for his courage and criticised for being overzealous, is preparing to make his exit. He is leaving the office from which he has launched his battle with the lamentation that "there appears to be one law for the rich, and one for the poor".

Although Christie, by his own pronouncement, is ready to leave despite no signs of battle weariness, corruption has shown absolutely no sign of receding. The trail is long.

It was in 1991 that the Furniture Scandal erupted.

Strachan, then auditor general, and his team of auditors, found something untoward about public funds being used to acquire "expensive" furniture for politicians.

The 'scandal' turned out to be one of those sordid affairs in which some officials of the Michael Manley administration signed millions of dollars for what was deemed the most ostentatious of household paraphernalia to which they were not entitled.

The PAC, chaired by then Opposition Spokesman on Finance Bruce Golding, began to probe the matter and found that costly chandeliers and expensive rugs were favoured items among some of the politicians.

In the midst of the mess, Manley ordered his charges to return the items.

As the controversy deepened, the late Ben Clare even admitted that he had signed for the items to be procured without examining the documents.

Investigators were called in and a public servant employed to Gordon House was sent to prison for illegally extracting millions of dollars out of the public purse.

Strachan, a man who avoided the limelight, was lauded and hailed as a hero for nabbing sticky-fingered public servants and 'red-eye' politicians.

Effective though he was, Strachan kept his emotions in check.

NSWMA Scandal

When the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) scandal shook the Patterson administration in 2004, neither corruption-averse Strachan nor then Contractor General Derrick McKoy was remotely amused.

McKoy, who seven years earlier had succeeded the urbane Gordon Wells as contractor general, did not mince words in detailing the mismanagement at the NSWMA before serving notice that he would not renew his contract, which had expired in 2004.

The Office of the Contractor General deals with the monitoring and investigation of irregularities and discrepancies in the award and implementation of contracts.

It also makes recommendations to heads of departments, ministers, and Parliament based on its findings.

The vacancy in that office paved the way for Christie, who would move hell and high water to highlight a suspected speck of corruption.

Much to the chagrin of public servants, as much as he was averse to corruption as Strachan and McKoy, Christie was not as subtle.

He seemed to bask in the idea of shouting from the roofs and mountain tops of suspected hanky-panky.

K.D. Knight remarked in Parliament as Christie revelled in the moment, "Oh for Gordon Wells and Derrick McKoy!"

Although some public servants and politicians wanted a more restrained contractor general, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has lauded the tenacity, zeal, and energy with which he approaches his job.

Speaking in Parliament on the qualities he would be looking for in someone to be appointed as special prosecutor to fight corruption in the public sector, Golding said that he would be looking for someone like "a Greg Christie".

Christie has probed cases involving Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett; former Mining Minister James Robertson; and outspoken former Junior Minister Everald Warmington.

Many have come and gone. Will corruption ever follow suit?

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com