Fostering A Culture of Integrity Supporting Sustainable Development
“There is no higher value in our society than
integrity.” – Arlen Specter
The Roman Catholic operated St. Michael’s Theological College has been hosting a number of public fora recently. The most recent in the series was collaboration with the National Integrity Action (NIA). The presentation was entitled “Enhancing Integrity for Development”. Jamaica has been plagued by various forms of scandals since she gained political independence in 1962. Both our main political parties have at one point been embroiled in scandals. The public forum was indeed timely given the soft campaigning now being undertaking by both political parties in anticipating of general elections in 2020. The Executive Director, of the National Integrity Action, Professor Trevor Munroe brought greetings to the moderately attended public discussion. The National Integrity Action is a non-profit organization which was launched in December of 2011 with the aim of combating corruption in Jamaica through education, encouraging anti-corruption vigilance and activism, and through lobbying the government to enforce anti-corruption laws. The audience represented a wide cross section of the Jamaican society with representatives from the clergy, private sector, the media, university students, public commentators and civic minded Jamaicans. The first speaker to take the crease was Rev. Adinhair Jones, past chairman of the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches. He stated that Jamaica over the years has been plagued by a long history of political corruption. He added that over the years he has made some observations about the Jamaican State. He outlined that there is a no trust spirit in the society which he said was an indication that the society has been suffering for a long time. His second observation was that Jamaica appears to have a high tolerance of corruption which is opined was linked to the quality of our democracy. Finally, Rev. Jones said Jamaica’s modern history was characterized by low growth rate. Rev. Jones argued that all three signs indicate that Jamaica is unable to absorb corruption. He was adamant that the church is on the side of truth. He said the church is not apolitical but not partisan. He concluded that the time has come for the society to embrace a culture of whistleblowers. The second speaker was the Most Rev. Kenneth Richards, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kingston. He made a call for the appreciation and return of values such as honesty; good character and transparency all of which he argued were needed to guard against corruption. He lamented that corruption and corrupt practices benefited certain individuals while hurting the poor and the vulnerable in the society. The archbishop said corruption undermines economic growth and development. He called for a culture of advocacy to help in the fight against corruption. He likened corruption to a poison which robs the dignity of the human person. He was very strident in his presentation as he urged the audience to seek inspiration from the Word of God in the fight against corruption and corrupt practices. The Most Rev. Kenneth Richards sees corruption in an extended manner as he singled out the commercial banking sector as being engaged in some corrupt practices. Many of us continue to be negatively impacted by the unreasonable banking fees being charged for certain transactions and can relate to the archbishop’s comments. The archbishop ended his thought provoking presentation by stating the Church needs to wake up as the Jamaican people are losing confidence in national institutions including the church. The third and final presenter was Mr. Howard Mitchell, past president of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ). Mitchell acknowledged the work of the National Integrity Action in its work in being a watchdog against corruption. He is however of the view that this awareness has not reached the masses of Jamaicans. He also took a wider look at corruption outside of the domain of political corruption. He defines corruption as the misuse of trusted authority. He identified three troubling signs in the Jamaican State. He said civil society was weak, secondly, the private sector is selfish and finally, he mentioned that there is a need for a balance between the State and the wider community. He stated that there needs to be more public private engagement. Mr. Mitchell called for a shift from revenue expenditure to human capital development. He singled out the high levels of poverty especially in the Three Miles area when one drove overhead at the over cross. He also singled out the education system which is said was putting some students at a disadvantage. He stated that the education system needs to be re-designed. He was passionate in calling for the return of Civics to be taught in all our schools. I agree with Mr. Mitchell especially on this point. I strongly urge the Education Ministry and the Minister to examine this call to action. The former Private Sector Organization of Jamaica President said inequality breeds corruption. He also said that campaign financing reform is necessary in the fight against corruption. He made fervent plea for more public participation in the business of governance. Mitchell said Jamaica was experiencing a spiraling deficit of trust and he ended by saying if you see something wrong, say something. There was a lively and engaging open discussion. One member of the audience remarked that the corruption has its genesis when the private sector contributes to political campaigns.
Working Towards A Culture of Integrity
Is Jamaica facing a crisis of integrity? Do we have some serious problems regarding transparency and accountability? What does integrity mean? Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. There is a feeling in the society that those who are honest and of good characters are losing out to those who are involved in corrupt practices. Those who are deemed corrupt appear to have it all. Corruption continues to eat away at the social and moral fabric of the Jamaican society. There are examples of this in almost every facet of the Jamaican landscape, from the churches to our schools, from places of business to those who are involved in entrepreneurial activities. We are indeed at a crossroad. Political corruption as well as other forms of corrupt practices has made us poorer. Many Jamaicans are cynical regarding government. There is a widening trust deficit in the society and this does not augurs well for our democracy especially as we try to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #8 and goal #10. As the anticipation builds regarding the next general elections we must support the call regarding political parties’ campaign financing reform. We need to know who are the ones funding our political parties. The financiers of political parties are powerful and our politicians become indebted to them. The popular saying is so very true; he who pays the piper calls the tune. We now know that We need to safeguard our democracy by ensuring that there are systems of transparency and accountability in place across all sectors of the society. We need to value the contribution and service of our countrymen who are of much integrity. The National Integrity Action should be congratulated regarding the work it has done to date. We should give encouragement to the NIA to expand the Integrity Club programmes from the fifteen participating schools to all schools in Jamaica. It bares thought that such an expansion of this club will ensure that the next generation of Jamaicans will develop and foster a culture of civic mindedness in ensuring that corruption is rooted out of the Jamaican State. Corruption slowly creeps up on you however; we must be swift in our actions to eradicate this scourge from the society.
waykam@yahoo.com
@WayneCamo
#integrity
The Roman Catholic operated St. Michael’s Theological College has been hosting a number of public fora recently. The most recent in the series was collaboration with the National Integrity Action (NIA). The presentation was entitled “Enhancing Integrity for Development”. Jamaica has been plagued by various forms of scandals since she gained political independence in 1962. Both our main political parties have at one point been embroiled in scandals. The public forum was indeed timely given the soft campaigning now being undertaking by both political parties in anticipating of general elections in 2020. The Executive Director, of the National Integrity Action, Professor Trevor Munroe brought greetings to the moderately attended public discussion. The National Integrity Action is a non-profit organization which was launched in December of 2011 with the aim of combating corruption in Jamaica through education, encouraging anti-corruption vigilance and activism, and through lobbying the government to enforce anti-corruption laws. The audience represented a wide cross section of the Jamaican society with representatives from the clergy, private sector, the media, university students, public commentators and civic minded Jamaicans. The first speaker to take the crease was Rev. Adinhair Jones, past chairman of the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches. He stated that Jamaica over the years has been plagued by a long history of political corruption. He added that over the years he has made some observations about the Jamaican State. He outlined that there is a no trust spirit in the society which he said was an indication that the society has been suffering for a long time. His second observation was that Jamaica appears to have a high tolerance of corruption which is opined was linked to the quality of our democracy. Finally, Rev. Jones said Jamaica’s modern history was characterized by low growth rate. Rev. Jones argued that all three signs indicate that Jamaica is unable to absorb corruption. He was adamant that the church is on the side of truth. He said the church is not apolitical but not partisan. He concluded that the time has come for the society to embrace a culture of whistleblowers. The second speaker was the Most Rev. Kenneth Richards, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kingston. He made a call for the appreciation and return of values such as honesty; good character and transparency all of which he argued were needed to guard against corruption. He lamented that corruption and corrupt practices benefited certain individuals while hurting the poor and the vulnerable in the society. The archbishop said corruption undermines economic growth and development. He called for a culture of advocacy to help in the fight against corruption. He likened corruption to a poison which robs the dignity of the human person. He was very strident in his presentation as he urged the audience to seek inspiration from the Word of God in the fight against corruption and corrupt practices. The Most Rev. Kenneth Richards sees corruption in an extended manner as he singled out the commercial banking sector as being engaged in some corrupt practices. Many of us continue to be negatively impacted by the unreasonable banking fees being charged for certain transactions and can relate to the archbishop’s comments. The archbishop ended his thought provoking presentation by stating the Church needs to wake up as the Jamaican people are losing confidence in national institutions including the church. The third and final presenter was Mr. Howard Mitchell, past president of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ). Mitchell acknowledged the work of the National Integrity Action in its work in being a watchdog against corruption. He is however of the view that this awareness has not reached the masses of Jamaicans. He also took a wider look at corruption outside of the domain of political corruption. He defines corruption as the misuse of trusted authority. He identified three troubling signs in the Jamaican State. He said civil society was weak, secondly, the private sector is selfish and finally, he mentioned that there is a need for a balance between the State and the wider community. He stated that there needs to be more public private engagement. Mr. Mitchell called for a shift from revenue expenditure to human capital development. He singled out the high levels of poverty especially in the Three Miles area when one drove overhead at the over cross. He also singled out the education system which is said was putting some students at a disadvantage. He stated that the education system needs to be re-designed. He was passionate in calling for the return of Civics to be taught in all our schools. I agree with Mr. Mitchell especially on this point. I strongly urge the Education Ministry and the Minister to examine this call to action. The former Private Sector Organization of Jamaica President said inequality breeds corruption. He also said that campaign financing reform is necessary in the fight against corruption. He made fervent plea for more public participation in the business of governance. Mitchell said Jamaica was experiencing a spiraling deficit of trust and he ended by saying if you see something wrong, say something. There was a lively and engaging open discussion. One member of the audience remarked that the corruption has its genesis when the private sector contributes to political campaigns.
Working Towards A Culture of Integrity
Is Jamaica facing a crisis of integrity? Do we have some serious problems regarding transparency and accountability? What does integrity mean? Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. There is a feeling in the society that those who are honest and of good characters are losing out to those who are involved in corrupt practices. Those who are deemed corrupt appear to have it all. Corruption continues to eat away at the social and moral fabric of the Jamaican society. There are examples of this in almost every facet of the Jamaican landscape, from the churches to our schools, from places of business to those who are involved in entrepreneurial activities. We are indeed at a crossroad. Political corruption as well as other forms of corrupt practices has made us poorer. Many Jamaicans are cynical regarding government. There is a widening trust deficit in the society and this does not augurs well for our democracy especially as we try to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #8 and goal #10. As the anticipation builds regarding the next general elections we must support the call regarding political parties’ campaign financing reform. We need to know who are the ones funding our political parties. The financiers of political parties are powerful and our politicians become indebted to them. The popular saying is so very true; he who pays the piper calls the tune. We now know that We need to safeguard our democracy by ensuring that there are systems of transparency and accountability in place across all sectors of the society. We need to value the contribution and service of our countrymen who are of much integrity. The National Integrity Action should be congratulated regarding the work it has done to date. We should give encouragement to the NIA to expand the Integrity Club programmes from the fifteen participating schools to all schools in Jamaica. It bares thought that such an expansion of this club will ensure that the next generation of Jamaicans will develop and foster a culture of civic mindedness in ensuring that corruption is rooted out of the Jamaican State. Corruption slowly creeps up on you however; we must be swift in our actions to eradicate this scourge from the society.
In the words of C.S.
Lewis, integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
Wayne Campbell is an
educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as
they affect culture and or gender issues.waykam@yahoo.com
@WayneCamo
#integrity
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