Strengthen democratic institutions to stamp out corruption – Teixeira tells CCAICACB conference

In order to stamp out corruption, developing countries within the Caribbean Community (Caricom) need to strengthen their democratic institutions. This is the firm conviction of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister Gail Teixeira.
She expressed this sentiment while delivering remarks on Monday at the Ninth Annual Conference of the Commonwealth Caribbean Association of Integrity Commissions and Anti-Corruption Bodies (CCAICACB) which is being held in Guyana.

While pointing out that Caribbean countries have not yet attained 100 years of independence, Minister Teixeira said democracy building in these developing countries is like a grain of sand in the ocean when compared to the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK).
“Democracy is the foundation of our countries. The democratic institutions… and our countries are not old. Many of us like Guyana is embryonic, nascent democracies that are emerging with a very traumatic history. Others have had it easier but the length of democracy in these countries and democracy building is like a grain of sand in the ocean in comparison with the US and Britain.”
She alluded to the numerous articles in the international media which label Caribbean countries as havens for corruption. “The Caribbean keeps getting notoriety in the international media for havens of corruption. And the number of articles printed showing that we have massive corruption in the Caribbean islands and we have to be offended by that as Caricom countries.”
These articles, she pointed out, are compiled using the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI). She made it clear that the Guyana Government does not accept TI’s assessment of the country because it is “non-empirical” and “not scientific”.
Concerning the structure of the TI, Minister Teixeira said the Guyana Government does not feel that an “organisation can have two or three unnamed persons in a country, evaluate your country and put your country on a scale globally.” “That gives two or three people an enormous amount of power that they were not given by the electorate and by the people.”
Teixeira issued a call for developing countries to strengthen their democratic institutions.
In so doing, she urged regional leaders to ensure that in the public service, the bureaucracy understands how they deal with the public; that honesty and treatment with respect are part of the code of public service. The same applies to how the private sector and civil society function, she said. The politician went on the question how is it that the Democracy Index (DI) shows that the world on the northern side is more democratic and the world on the southern side is not.
“How is it that the CPI of the TI points out that the southern part of the world is more corrupt than the others? Isn’t that rather coincidental? For me, this is a reflection of prejudices and biases against persons in the developing world.” The Minister emphasised that the conference provides countries with the chance to remedy their image on the international stage.
And according to her, part of that includes being frontal about what is being done to tackle corruption, the challenges faced in that regard and what needs to be done better.
“Instead of Integrity Commission being in the background checking everybody’s information and anti-corruption bodies doing what they have to do, we have to go out and explain to the people what are the anti-corruption measures in our country and what are the challenges we face and to get our people onboard to support these efforts,” she told those gathered.
Formed in 2015, CCAICACB brings together heads of anti-corruption agencies, senior Government officials, relevant international organisations, policymakers, and development partners to review national and regional anti-corruption efforts, share knowledge and good practices, and discuss the impacts of corruption on sustainable development.
The CCAICACB, which now takes place annually, is sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation and the Commonwealth Secretariat and is hosted by a different member country each year, employing a different theme relating to ethics and corruption prevention.