IntroductionIt is widely saidthat power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. With this in mind,modern democratic nations worldwide continue to put measures in place to stemcorruption. One such method is to hold public officers and offices accountablefor their actions. In many cases nations have reformed their respectiveconstitutions to deal with such challenges, Jamaica is no exception.

The exercising ofpolitical power and the desire for accountability within the last 20 years haspropelled constitutional development in Jamaica more so than ever. There is apresumption that where there is political power in the absence ofaccountability corruption is bred. Constitutional reforms are required to stemsuch corruption.Globally, a multitudeof systemic developments have brought to the fore the need for constitutionalreform in democratic states. The Caribbean is no different and given thequestionable level of political inclusiveness, the level of corruption,authoritarian governance, lack of accountability and general political malaisein the region.In many Caribbeanstates the general election results have shown a decline in voters’ turnout,this is a clear signal of public dissatisfaction and the desire for change. Apoll was conducted in Jamaica in 1999 and 49% of respondents said they believeJamaica’s corruption is our greatest threat to democracy.As a result of thesubversion and presumed limitations of Caribbean democracies several reformcommissions have been put in place to advice the political administrations onthe way on which constitutional governance can be realized.

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 Cabinet has also made to close some of thegaps identified and thereby strengthening the accountability framework. Historical backgroundJamaica as well asthe other Caribbean countries have all adopted the Parliament WestminsterSystem of government from Britain. After independence most if not all Caribbeancountries adopted parliamentary majoritarian political system with its dualexecutive power structure in the head of state and head of government.IndependentCommonwealth Caribbean constitutions in keeping with Britain recognizedBritain’s Monarch as the head of state and the governor general acting as HerMajesty’s personal representative. In most Caribbean countries the governorgeneral exercise his function in accordance with the advice of cabinet, but inother Caribbean jurisdictions, governors general are empowered to act in theirown deliberate judgment as it regards to certain expressed provisions of theconstitution. Under said constitutional arrangements, power is clearlycentralized in the hands of the Prime Minister.

Legally and constitutionallythe power rest with the Prime Minister to select the majority of senators inthe bicameral legislature and are vested with the power to hire and fireministers of government. Additionally, the Prime Minister also has the power toappoint a wide ranging number of individuals to important political,bureaucratic, and sometimes judicial positions.Unlike the AmericanPresidential System, the Westminster arrangements do not provide for properchecks and balancing on prime minister power. This type of governmental systembreeds partisan politics because it doesn’t facilitate consensual politics asit relates to the need of the executive (the cabinet) to maintain theconfidence of the legislature. Historically, one of the major challenges of theWestminster parliamentary system of government, as practised in Jamaica andother Caribbean countries, is that it doesn’t lends itself to oversightcommittees allowing for scrutiny of public officials and ensuring transparencyand accountability.  Accountability A studyby the World Bank has found a strong relationship between good governance andgood government performance, this study may have played a role in the fact thatwe have seen where, over time, and successive Jamaican Governments have takensteps to improve accountability and transparencyAccountability is verycritical in any form of governance; it plays a fundamental role in the publichaving confidence in the government and it often results in a more productivegovernment with better results. The Government of Jamaica (GoJ), like mostwestern governments, is committed to strengthening its capability to manage forresult by improving its accountability. In an attempt to realize theaforementioned, the GOJ has formulated a 5 year agenda furtherance to achievingthis in the Government at your Service: Public Sector Modernization Vision andStrategy Medium Term Action Plan (MTAP).

The major objective of this agenda isto improve accountability across all areas of the government, in particularlystrengthening the accountability for government executives.  In keeping with this thrust foraccountability, the government has undertaken a number of initiatives includinga review of accountability in 2008, this resulted in the preparation of theStrengthening the Accountability Framework for the Public Sector in Jamaica, AComparative Analysis of Accountability Mechanisms (Jamaica and Canada) and thisframework document. There are two mainlevels of accountability discussed in the accountability framework. This 1stlevel discuss the issue of government wide accountability and addresses thequestion of what is to be put in place to provide a basis for assuring thatGovernment’s policy prescriptions are clear, subject to scrutiny, and translatedinto institutional actions. The second level deals with the issue of individualaccountability and presented ways to access the performance of senior publicservants and possible appropriate rewards or sanctions.

 The overall objective of the AccountabilityFramework is to clarify responsibilities, expectations and reportingrelationships for government’s senior executive officers. As such, it addressthree major areas ;  The Government-wideAccountability Environment, Government’s Senior Executive OfficersAccountability Arrangements and Supportive and enabling Performance Managementand Evaluation Systems.Accountabilityis also accessed on how long it takes the government to respond or todisseminate information on issues of public concern. Successive governmentserred considerable as it relates to the Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke’s extraditionand the Manatt affair as well as the National Housing Trust/Outameni imbroglio.There was presumable an attempt by both governments to create walls of secrecyto prevent a government scandal which could have had political implications onboth governments.  Constitutional developmentCabinet has madeseveral adjustments in an attempt to close some of the gaps identified andtherefore strengthening accountability of senior public servants and the entirepublic sector.  It has been argued thatJamaica’s constitution and by extension the rest of the Caribbean’sconstitution was handed down to the Anglophone Caribbean by our colonialmasters, and may not best represent or address our social issues.

As such,separate apart from the need for constitutional development as it relates tothe challenges of accountability, most Commonwealth Caribbean countries arecurrently engaged in the process of reviewing their constitutions whetherformally or informally. Having adopted aconstitution from our colonial masters, it was trite that we also embraced saidpolitical structure. However, over the years there have been severaladjustments to our political structure, hence the need to also adjust anddevelop a more fitting constitution.  Theregional constitutional reform process therefore sets out to correct or remedythe historical oversight by way of public debate.Former Prime Ministerof Jamaica, P. J.

Patterson stated that, ” the Jamaican constitution was anorder in council of Britain and therefore not a creature of the JamaicanParliament, the time had come for the supreme law of the land to be establishedas an act of the sovereign Jamaican Parliament” Accountability propelling constitutional developmentWithin the last twodecades, successive Jamaican Governments have takenseveral steps to improve accountability and transparency. Differentadministrators have opened up the activities of the House of Parliament and thedeliberations of Parliament Committee to the media. The enactment of the Accessto Information Act (2002) establishment of the offices of Contractor General,Director of Public Prosecutions, Utilities Regulation, Auditor General, theIndependent Commission of Investigation, the Integrity Commission, AccountantGeneral, and the Public Defender, are few more examples of the governmentpushing to achieve maximum accountability.Some additionalmeasures taken by cabinet to improve accountability and therefore strengtheningthe accountability framework as stated by the Policy Development Unit, Public Sector Modernization Division are;a)    Ministriesshall table their annual reports before Parliament as an incentive to enhanceperformanceb)    Mechanismssimilar to the Management Resources and Results Structure (MRRS) and Program ActivityArchitecture (PAA) shall be adopted to provide stronger linkages betweenplanning and performance reporting and strengthen overall accountabilityc)    TheManagement and Accountability Framework, Results-based Management andAccountability Framework and the Integrated Risk Management Framework shall beexamined to determine their appropriateness and adaptability to the Jamaicanmodel as a means to improve management and accountability at the organizationalleveld)    Alltools and guidance documents developed shall be placed online foraccessibility. Performance reports shall also be made available onlinee)    PermanentSecretaries shall be accorded the flexibility to manage their human andfinancial responsibilities to achieve results, and be held accountable forperformancef)     ThePermanent Secretary as accounting officer shall receive Board minutes, andcorporate plans for Public Bodies shall be submitted for approval to theportfolio Minister through the responsible Permanent Secretary. This is tocomplement the powers conferred to the responsible Minister under the PBMA Act,to allow for more effective policy oversightg)    Thepractice whereby Permanent Secretaries sit on Advisory Boards and/or ManagementBoards under their portfolio shall be disallowed and legislation to ensureconsistency with this direction shall be amended as relevant. Further steps havealso been taken to maintain and further create a greater demarcation as itrelates to the separation of the three branches of government – judiciary, executive and legislative.

Preventing anoverlap of these functions is a forward step to reduce corruption and improveaccountability.  Conclusion Thegovernments of the Anglophone Caribbean, despite their relative stability, havebeen subjected to increased pressure to curb some of the dysfunctional activitiesthat came with the adaptation of the Westminster style of governance. Some ofthe dysfunctional behaviour was also as a direct result of the abuses of powerand the increasingly high level of political corruption within the region.Additionally, international political and economic developments have placedincreasing pressure on all Caribbean nations put measure in place improveaccountability.

It was found that the current distribution of power between theexecutive and legislative branches and the office of the Prime Minister did notprovide adequate legislative checks on the executive.  Powercorrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, it is of great importance that Jamaicaand other Caribbean countries make the necessary constitutional reform to curbcorruption because of its far reaching implications. An ideal place to start isto hold public bodies and individuals accountable for their actions by puttingboth proactive and reactive measures in place to address same.

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