Politics and corruption seem to be inseparable everywhere. In one week in March alone the world witnessed the resignation of the entire European Commission over a damning fraud  report, the conviction of former anti-apartheid activist Allan Boesak for stealing charity donations, the expulsion of six International Olympic Committee members over a votes-for-favours scandal, and the first conviction for electoral fraud of a sitting British Member of Parliament since 1859.

The European Parliament demanded the immediate collective resignation of the EC as the only appropriate response to an audit showing billions of dollars wasted through ineptitude and dishonesty. And Europe is supposedly the world’s most honest region, containing six of the ten least corrupt countries according to Transparency International.

Allan Boesak was a revered champion of the anti-apartheid struggle, a man of the cloth who refused to conceal his moral objections to the sins of white rule. President Nelson Mandela supported his former ANC comrade during the trial. But the judge’s verdict was that “The accused unlawfully appropriated money intended for children of South Africa.”

The IOC scandal culminated the biggest crisis in the movement's 106 years. Many felt that president Juan Antonio Samaranch himself should have resigned. Even the Olympian ideals of honesty and fair play were no proof against the insidious lure of gold.

Britain not only gave birth to liberal democracy, the free press, and due process of law, it invented the very concept of governmental accountability. But the conviction of UK Labour MP Fiona Jones for falsifying election expenses showed that not even this least corrupt of major countries is immune from political venality.

Many argue from such events that Jamaica is no more corrupt than the rest of the world. But Transparency International’s last anti-corruption index ranked Jamaica 49^th out of 85 countries with a rating of 3.8 out of 10. Even reputedly bribe afflicted nations like South Korea, Brazil and Zimbabwe were considered less dishonest.

In all the above incidents someone resigned, was convicted, or was expelled. But the only sitting Jamaican MPs who ever had action taken against them for dishonesty were Cleve Lewis, J.Z. Malcolm, and L.L. Simmons during the pre-independence Bustamante regime. Lewis and Malcolm were charged with selling farm work tickets, while Simmons was indicted for selling cabinet secrets. In all cases the law took its course without governmental interference and each man was found guilty and jailed. (After Lewis served his term in jail he again ran for office and was elected.)

P.J. Patterson did resign after the uproar over the Shell waiver involving himself and Horace Clark. But he returned months later to become Prime Minister, showing it cost him little political capital. After being voted out of office in 1989 former Minister of Labour J.A.G. Smith was imprisoned for stealing farm worker’s remittances. Cynics suggest that as a female newcomer Portia Simpson, who championed the prosecution, was unaware of the unwritten old boys code of political immunity. Some saw Smith’s prosecution as a warning to officials not to overstep ‘accepted’ boundaries - his theft was too obvious and too blatantly flaunted.

Since independence there have been many controversial scenarios involving politicians - Jamaica Woolens and Wills O. Isaacs, Lasarena Codfish with Isaacs again, Mafasanti Construction and Hugh Shearer, the alleged missing schools with Arthur Burt and Edwin Allen, the pre-assembled stoves and fridges with Robert Lightbourne, Nutrition Holdings and Dexter Rose, Hurricane Gilbert zinc and Ryan Peralto, the costly furniture and Ben Clare – the list could go on for pages. In every case the media asked many questions and got few answers. But no elected official lost his position, and all won re-election.

True, corruption has almost become the global norm. But while wealthy economies can support the marginal cost of corruption, weaker economies cannot. Corruption creates inefficiency, and crooked countries lose out in the global competition for capital. Bankers and businessmen now demand more than a minister’s blessing before risking their money. Studies show that corruption is closely connected to economic malpractice. Highly corrupt countries have lower investment and growth rates. They also tend to invest less in education, which pays big economic dividends but small bribes. Dishonesty also acts as a tax on direct foreign investment. An increase in corruption from Singaporean to Mexican levels is the estimated equivalent of a 20% tax raise. Unchecked corruption can destroy infrastructures, ruin countries and impoverish peoples, as in Russia, Indonesia and Nigeria.

Polls indicate that 49% of Jamaicans think corruption is the greatest threat to our democracy, while 77% think there is more official corruption today than 10 years ago. Yet there are no statutes in the Jamaican constitution specifically addressing official dishonesty, and there is no recourse for punishing even red-handed governmental theft. An anti-corruption Bill was recently tabled, but no debate date was set. Chances are when implemented it will be as toothless as the Parliamentary Integrity Act.

Yet even the strictest laws are useless unless backed by public sentiment. In media censored dictatorships like Mobutu’s Zaire or Marcos’ Phillipines where a greedy elite extorts through the barrel of a gun, the only recourse of the masses is assassination or revolution. Politicians In democracies can only steal with the consent of voters. Jamaica has a free press, which does an excellent job of informing the public, and free elections. If we the people are aware that elected officials have acted dishonestly and yet vote them back into power, are we not giving them the opportunity and permission to steal from the public purse again in the future? Consensual sex should not be confused with rape.