"Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, (from Greek: klept?s, "thief"(1) and -kratos, "power, rule," (2) hence "rule by thieves") is a form of political and government corruption where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population, often without pretense of honest service. This type of government corruption is often achieved by the embezzlement of state funds."
–Wikipedia, online encyclopedia
"Trinidad and Tobago does not have a narco-dollar problem," the diplomat mentioned matter-of-factly over lunch at a Port-of-Spain restaurant, as I, for a fleeting second, prepared for what seemed to be praise of the Government's war against the drug trade."What it has is a corruption dollar problem."
The diplomat was expressing the view, which I had also heard in the wider diplomatic circle, that the level of the drug trade in T&T could not explain the size of the local bank deposits which bore no relationship to the country's economic activity. Like other members of the diplomatic community, he had put it down to the increasing corruption for which we are becoming infamous.
In my interaction with members of the diplomatic community, I am increasingly amazed at their perception of the Government of T&T and the extent of both official and unofficial corruption. No one can deny, after witnessing the live proceedings of the Uff enquiry into the construction sector which starred Calder Hart, that the problem spans all our administrations.
What is also undeniable is that the present dispensation has taken the problem to a whole new level and that, if it is not there already, T&T is approaching the level of a kleptocratic state.
The newspapers are filled with not just rumours, but instances and confirmed reports of widespread corruption in contract awards among state enterprises and ministries, with astronomical sums being mentioned, without a word being suggested of any official investigation or even indication of a polite enquiry. The greater problem lies not in the corruption which is now endemic, and is seen in the country's bank balances, even as the economy continues to grind to a halt, but in its official acceptance.
Three weeks ago the House of Representatives passed the Anti-Doping in Sport Bill which recognised the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as the final arbiter in doping appeals arising from this jurisdiction. Neither the Government nor the Opposition saw the irony in the fact that T&T had been so dismissive of a ruling by the very court.
According to a ruling from CAS following its meeting of July 19, last year, "... it is more likely than not that Mr (Mohammed) Bin Hammam was the source of the monies that were brought into Trinidad and Tobago and eventually distributed at the meeting by Mr (Jack) Warner, and that in this way, his conduct, in collaboration with and most likely induced by Mr Warner, may not have complied with the highest ethical standards that should govern the world of football and other sports."
But it was deemed good enough for T&T governance, as it made no impact on Warner's Cabinet tenure. In fact, even as further revelations were being made about Warner's football tenure which spanned a part of his term of office, Cabinet colleagues were lining up, led by the Government's official spokesman, Jamal Mohammed, to express support and solidarity.
Although Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar only alluded to it last Monday in Siparia, the decision to force and then accept Warner's resignation came not from Camini Marajh's excellent journalistic investigation or Sir David Simmons' damning report, both of which would have been ignored as have similar reports and findings in the past. The PM's decision arose from her meeting with the US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns which left her no choice.
It represents no advance in our official stance to corruption since, with a wealth of evidence of criminal wrongdoing revealed in these reports, the Commissioner of Police was last Monday singing the praises of his erstwhile minister with no hint of seeing the need to begin an investigation. Under the PNM, at least we had investigations of Ministers Franklin Khan and Eric Williams and their removal from office pending their exoneration.
There were also the Landate and Uff enquiries. There have been no official inquiries for anything done under this administration. Instead we have seen a series of legal opinions justifying the unjustifiable, by cherry-picked attorneys representing the State.
Little by little, we are establishing the foundation of the kleptocratic state. In laying the Anti-Doping Bill in the House, Sports Minister Anil Roberts gave a wide-ranging exposition on cheating in sports and focused, in particular, on the role of the Chinese in swimming. He noted that: "In 1994, in the World Championships in Rome, China won 11 out of 14 female gold medals and broke nine world records. This was after previously having never won an international medal until 1992."
After being subjected to stringent drug testing from 1997, however, the Chinese started to break down as they received 33 positive tests within an 18-month period, Roberts said.The point of that story, however, was clearly not to bemoan the Chinese cheating.Last weekend, the Sport Minister was on national television announcing his plan to introduce Chinese swimming coaches to T&T.
Maxie Cuffie runs a media consultancy, Integrated Media Company Ltd, is an economics graduate of the UWI and holds an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School as a Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management.