Caribbean anti-corruption bodies press for stronger funding and regional cooperation at Jamaica conference

Caribbean integrity and anti-corruption leaders meeting in Jamaica for the 12th annual CCAICACB conference have urged governments to strengthen oversight bodies, deepen regional cooperation and respond faster to new forms of corruption.

Lady Anande Trotman-Joseph, chair of the Commonwealth Caribbean Association of Integrity Commissions and Anti-Corruption Bodies, said member states across the region share a common responsibility under the United Nations Convention against Corruption. She noted that the association has drawn participation from CARICOM and Commonwealth Caribbean states, while Dutch St. Martin and Aruba have shown interest in becoming associate members.

Dr. Roger Koranteng of the Commonwealth Secretariat said the Secretariat has supported the association since its formation in 2015, after recognising that integrity commissions and anti-corruption agencies across the Commonwealth had no common platform. He said the group has helped members share practices, build capacity and support one another, but warned that Secretariat funding is declining. He called on states to resource the institutions they created, arguing that weak oversight today leaves future generations with deeper governance problems.

Colonel Desmond Edwards, director general of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency, said corruption has moved with technology, especially through cyber-enabled fraud, phishing scams and attacks on financial institutions. MOCA, he said, has expanded cyber forensics, created specialised cyber investigation teams, added data analysis capacity and brought in forensic financial analysts to handle large digital evidence sets.

Integrity Commission Executive Director Craig Beresford said Jamaica’s commission works across prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution. He said the agency is pushing ahead with a national anti-corruption strategy, strengthening statutory declaration systems and relying more on data, case-management and forensic tools. Beresford also said Jamaica’s Integrity Commission Act needs strengthening, while avoiding specifics on current matters.

Revenue Protection Department Chief Technical Director Cranstoun Morgan said corruption is estimated to cost Jamaica about five per cent of GDP, or roughly J$100 billion annually. He said the RPD investigates fraud and corruption in revenue entities, conducts public education, vets employees, audits governance and checks infrastructure linked to revenue collection.