ALTHOUGH THE 'attention grabber' would have been the American capture of ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, a very important development took place during the week of December 7-13. This was a conference that may well establish the steps necessary to avoid any future dictators enjoying their ill-gotten gains, when they have to leave office.
I am talking about the United Nations. Convention against Corruption conference (what a mouthful) that took place in Merida, Mexico. These tentative steps may help countries that have been looted/embezzled of money, to recover significant sums of this. Hopefully, if more countries agree with the Convention, and by reworking their internal banking laws, it may lead to the second step of the transfer of ill-gotten gains back to their countries of origin.
Now, some readers may be wondering why this law is seen as important to ensuring better future governance, given that Jamaican politicians have avoided the taint of major corruption charges that have occurred and are occurring in diverse localities such as the Philippines (under Marcos), Haiti (under Duvalier), the Congo (when known as Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko), Nigeria (under Abacha), and in Peru, Nicaragua and Zambia, over the last decade. I do not believe, however, that Jamaican politicians are more honest than politicians all over the world, so I hope that Jamaica is a signatory to this Convention, as the culture of accountability is quite weak in this country.
The Convention in my view does not go far enough but it is still a first step to recover looted wealth. With the OECD countries (largely the rich country's club) increasing the pressure of late on off-shore tax havens (largely found in developing countries, like the Cayman Islands), it is just that tax havens of the developed world (like Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Jersey island) be called to the same standards. Let the spotlight be shined on all countries and force all to reform their banking laws, to avoid shielding those who have enriched themselves by foul means.
In the future I also hope that the museums of New York, Paris, London, Washington D.C., Berlin, Rome and other major museums and private collections, where numerous nationally identified treasures exist, stolen from developing countries (in the present or the past), will also come under some convention and be forced to return their stolen loot. Theft is theft, regardless of the centuries or decades that have passed.
