St.

Joseph Teachers College

Student teacher: Dawn Bennett

Specialization: Early Childhood Education
Course name: Citizenship Education
Course code: ED101GED
Date: October 2016
Lecturer Name: V. Dias-Latty
Assignment topic:
(a) Identify THREE (3) measures that have been implemented in a selected Caribbean territory to
reduce the level of corruption.
(b) Discuss the level of success TWO (2) of these measure have had in reducing corruption.
Number of Credits: 3

Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It can be classified as grand,
petty and political, depending on the nature of the action and the sector where it occurs. It
corrodes the fabric of society. It undermines peoples trust in political and economic systems,
institutions and leaders. It can cost people their freedom, family, health, money and sometimes
their lives.
The issue of corruption, and its abuse of public office for private gain, has attracted
renewed interest, both among academics and policymakers. Many governments in Jamaica and
other Caribbean territories have been toppled because of corruption. Globalization has created
massive opportunities for the misappropriation of fun, excessive profits, and has often been
accompanied by a change from a well-organized system of corruption to a more chaotic and
deleterious one. Benefactor have placed less emphasis on political considerations in allocating
foreign aid among Caribbean countries and have paid more attention to cases in which aid funds
have been misused and have not reached the poor. Corruption have hit our school and
homes, head on and there seem to be nothing that can be done about it.

We as citizen often wonder how can we feel, safe knowing that the police officer whose
duties is to serve and protect, accept money for just about anything. How can citizen feel safe
knowing that their Members of parliament and councilors, willfully participate in corrupt
activities, knowing that corruption can impede democracy and the rules of law in a democratic
system. Those Public institutions and offices must therefore lose their legitimacy when they
misuse their power for private interest. Corruption may also result in negative consequences such
as encoring cynicism and reduction of interest in political participation, instability in the political
parties, reduction in political competition, and transparency of political decision making.
Corruption also support distorting political development and sustaining political activity based on

patronage, clientelism and money. The overall effect of corruption is always negative for any
society its people and democracy.

Corruptions is present in all sector and the police force is no exception. This type of
corruption is a complex phenomenon, which does not readily submit to simple analysis. It is a
problem that has and will continue to affect us, whether we are civilians or law enforcement
officers. Since its beginnings, many aspects of policing have changed; however, one aspect that
has remained relatively unchanged is the existence of corruption. Nevertheless, with the constant
outcry of the people, the government have now implemented some measures to reduce, combat, or
if possible eliminate the scourge of corruption within the police force. The Major Organized
Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency(MOCA) was formed in August 2014 and brought together the
Ant- Corruption branch (ABC) and the Major Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Task Force
(MOCATF). It is now an elite Agency focusing on tracking corruption in the public sector and
brining high profile offenders to justice. This have developed over time and is becoming
increasingly independent. It is structured around a joint- staff effort with international Partner and
bringing together the countrys best intelligence assets, investigators, and prosecutors. An
examination of a local newspaper or any police-related publication on any given day will have an
article about a police officer that got busted committing some kind of corrupt act. This agency has
had many successes in bring to justice several offenders, with the latest being a District constable
who was charged for extortion and breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act in August of 2016.
(article taken from The Gleaner Published: Monday | October 10, 2016 | 12:38 PM).

Next, there is the awarding of government contracts, to person, individuals or company to

provide goodies and services to various sector of the economic. These services include building of
schools, hospitals, roads, catering of food and even the cleaning or maintenance of the
environment (gullies and drains). Its main purpose is to provide jobs for citizen, yet these contract
were awarded in a non-transparent manner which result in shady deals, weak enforcement of rules
and other illicit practices that undermine good governance, ethical businesses and promote
corruption. With this in mind, the Contractor General office now ensure that the government
contracts are awarded properly. The Contractor General is an independent, anti-corruption
Commission of Parliament. It was established by the Contractor General Act in 1986.This agency
was implemented to ensure that the public sector procurement process delivers value to the taxpayer, its merit based, free from corruption, impropriety and irregularity and is also transparent,
impartial, competitive, fair, efficient and effective. Its primary functions are the monitoring and
investigation of the award of Government contracts, licenses and permits. This agency has
investigated and broke open several allegation of large contractors who have been accused of
paying money to specific political parties, while it is in government in order to obtain
contracts. (The Gleaner, Published: Wednesday | August 31, 2016 | 9:16 AM), there most recent
probing is still under investigation.

Corruption also exist in the private sector where, management often walk through the back
door and employ person base upon strong alliances, political affiliation, family ties and not
qualification. This in turn affects the service provided at some of these instructions and continue
to elevate the level of corruption, as these people also conduct shady deals within the institutions
or organization.

Therefore, The National Integrity Action (NIA), The Parliamentary Integrity of Members
Commission(PIMC) (1975) police MPs assets and liabilities while, the Commission for the
Prevention of Corruption (CPC) (2001) keep check on public servants assets and liabilities. It is
against this background that NIA continues to advocate for the passage of strict laws to deter and
where necessary punish the corrupt and effective and sustained enforcement of laws. Their overall
goal is to close loopholes in Jamaicas legislative and anti-corruption institutional frame work.
This is a viewpoint supported by several Jamaicans living here in Jamaica and those living abroad
who have identified corruption as a major hindrance to the development of Jamaica.
With the measure implemented by the contractor General department, The Major Organized
Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency(MOCA) and the National Integrity Action(NIA), corruption
as seen a reduction in Jamaica over the past few years. There is still more room for improvement
and knowing that corruption is embedded in the police force and all aspect of society. Only make
the job that much harder.

Reference Page

https://www.niajamaica.org/issues/understanding
Retrieved from google October 17,2016 @11:30
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20161010/800000-bail-cop-extortion-andcorruption-charges
Retrieved from google October 17,2016 @12:00
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20160831/political-analyst-wants-contractorgeneral-probe-pnp-agent-fee-scandal
Retrieved from google October 18,2016 @12:30