As if it were not enough to file a declaration of financial affairs and, in the case of members of parliament, a statement of registrable interests, every specified person in public life other than a member or staff member of the Commission is also mandated by Clause 45 (1) to report to the Commission the receipt (offer?) of a gift
Read more
“Eternal Vigilance is the price of democracy” Thomas Jefferson In recent days the blogmaster has been reflecting on the fact professionals in Barbados that have accrued questionable track records do not seem to suffer reputational and career damage. What triggered the reflection? Thousands of innocent Barbadians whose only ‘crime’ was that they trusted successive governments to properly manage the affairs
Read more
Of course the proof of the pudding will ultimately lie in the eating, but the Integrity in Public Life is not short on provisions designed to ensure the reduction of opportunities for specified persons in public life to profit from corruption. In addition to mandating the declaration of particulars by these individuals that we treated at length in the last
Read more
Since the announcement by Prime Minister Mia Mottley announcing the launch of a pilot project with FinTech company Bitt Inc, there has been a growing concern among the savvy segment of the population about the project. There is the Heraclitus cliché that ‘the only thing that is constant is change‘. Commonsense therefore informs a view that technology will continue to be
Read more
At the risk of being accused by some on BU that the blogmaster has become a mouthpiece for Prime Minister Mia Mottley and the government, let us be clear – Barbadians have to accept a reality – we are in the deep South coast stuff, it behooves all patriotic Barbadians at home and abroad to become part of the solution
Read more
The principal technique employed by the Bill for combating corruption is to have specified persons in public life declare their financial affairs to the Commission or, where he or she is a member or staff member of the Commission, to the Governor General under Part IV of the Bill. Immediately, two observations may be made. First, it bears remarking that
Read more
The current official imperative to establish machinery to modernize the statute that criminalizes corruption in matters of state has seemingly not met with universal acclaim, if I am to judge from a number of responses to my offering in this space last Sunday. While there are those who believe that corrupt behaviour among public officials merits the harshest punishment constitutionally
Read more