We in Anguilla have even weaker institutions meant
to ensure good governance than the Virgin Islands have. So, we are in no position to preach. However, Virgin Islanders may find it useful
to read what constitutional improvements have been suggested to discourage
corruption and misgovernment in Anguilla.
Several governments have accepted these recommendations. But Hurricane Irma in 2017, and Covid-19
subsequently, have stalled the reform process.
Political Independence
from the UK: This must be our ultimate objective if we are
to have any national identity and self-respect.
Yet, immediate independence does not find favour with any significant
number of Anguillians. The likely
explanation is that over the past 40 years of internal self-government,
successive Anguillian governments have had difficulty in living up to
acceptable standards of good governance.
They need to prove to us their adherence to rules of accountability,
transparency, and integrity before we will risk our lives and property in their
unsupervised, independent hands. It
would be foolhardy of us to make the mistake so many of our Caribbean brothers
and sisters did and go into independence unprepared. Some of the issues you may want to consider
include the ones below.
Institutions
Protecting Good Governance: The VI already have some of these, eg, a
constitutionally protected, independent Auditor General, Complaints
Commissioner, DPP, Human Rights Commission, Integrity
Commission, Supervisor of Elections, and Judicial and Legal Services
Commission. We in Anguilla need to
be protected by additional, legally binding rules and institutions that guarantee
good governance. Once we can be
satisfied on this score, we are sure to look for further political advancement.
Electoral
District Boundary Commission: Regular revision (say every ten years when
the Census is taken) of the electoral boundaries must be done to achieve equal
representation in the Assembly. Such a
Commission must be protected in the Constitution from political manipulation.
Voters’ Lists: These
must be cleaned up at regular intervals to remove deceased or no longer
resident voters if disputes and suspicion are to be minimised. This should be done also after every census
is taken.
Public Service Commission: The
Governor’s constitutional role in keeping political parties out of the public
service is beneficial. But, in Anguilla
he or she has unlimited power over members of the public service. This is undemocratic and paternalistic. It does not permit us to develop local
responsibility for our own governance. An
independent PSC should be constitutionally protected and authorised to appoint
and discipline all public servants, including police officers, nurses, and
teachers.
National Security Commission: Such a
Commission should not be optional as at present but should be constitutionally
protected and empowered to advise the Governor on all matters of internal and
external security. Internal security
especially is our business.
Financial Services Commission: The
FSC exists at present under a mere statute.
The Constitution should give it constitutional protection and give its
members security of tenure.
Appointments Commission:
Ministers should not be allowed to appoint cronies to government boards
and committees. Such appointments should
be overseen by an independent, constitutionally protected panel.
Integrity Commission: This
organ is intended to promote integrity, honesty, and good faith in public life.
Among other things, it will publish and
enforce a Code of Conduct for Persons in Public Life. It will make and publish an annual Report to
the Assembly so that no default by a public officer is kept secret.
Registration
of interests: Parliamentarians and senior officers must
make an annual declaration of their and their families’ assets and liabilities. Such declarations must be public. Failure to file must result in
penalties. Concealment should result in
severe punishment. This applies to all
members of the House of Assembly and to the holders of such other offices as
may be prescribed by law. It is expected
that this provision will be extended to all Permanent Secretaries, Heads of
Departments, and members of public boards, committees, and commissions, of whom
accountability, transparency and integrity are demanded. The sanction for Members of the Assembly should
be loss of their seats. In all cases
other penalties such as fines and imprisonment should be available.
Complaints Commissioner:
Without an ombudsman-type officer available to every resident without
charge, it is often futile and expensive to make a complaint against an
oppressive or misbehaving member of the administration. The role of such an office is recognised
throughout the region as essential for minimising the loss of public confidence
in and increasing dissatisfaction with the performance of the public service.
Police Complaints Commissioner: At present,
complaints against abusive police officers go either to the Governor or to the
Commissioner of Police. This internal
process is secretive, unsatisfactory, and inappropriate. A corrective function can be more openly and
acceptably performed by an independent office.
Public Procurement Commissioner:
Despite the existing statutory provisions, public procurement remains
subject to much abuse. A
constitutionally protected administrative procedure for relief, at least as a
first step, is preferable to leaving it to the expensive and dilatory court
system.
Public Assets: Any dealing in Crown land, mineral, or
fishing rights, and other valuable public assets must require approval by the
Assembly.
Public Finance: As
a further guarantee of good governance, it is generally accepted among
Anguillians that our public finances need to be better regulated. The rules for handling public finances must
be more stringently enforced than they have been in previous years. The present rules are mainly set out in statutes. There is no provision for enforcing these
rules. Their deliberate ignoring by the
public service over past decades has caused the Chief Auditor to be critical of
Anguilla’s public accounts. We have, it
appears, never in our history received a clean audit report. We can better protect our public finances by
adopting in our Constitutions most of the stringent provisions the British have
been demanding. We have been proposing
that we should introduce them into any new Constitution rather than wait for
them to be imposed on us.
Neither rules nor
watchdog institutions will by themselves guarantee that integrity,
accountability, and transparency will descend like a warm blanket on our public
life. But their absence from our
Constitution, the highest legal instrument and supreme statement of our
expected norms and mores of public life, makes it easier for those who with
impunity use public office to enrich themselves and their friends to the cost
of the public purse is no longer acceptable.
We must set out in a clear and binding statement the parameters of the
behaviour we expect of those we place in office to rule over us. And, when those rules are broken, we must be
certain that we are able to take corrective action, protected by the
Constitution against victimisation. We
would encourage the Virgin Islands to join us in this constitutional reform
effort if they can expect to see any improvement in standards of public life. Without these constitutional reforms, direct
rule by the British government will be no help at all. With these reforms, direct rule will be
unnecessary and pointless.
