IT IS commendable of the Prime Minister of Grenada, Tillman Thomas, to have requested the resignation of his Attorney General (James Bristol) over an issue of conflict of interest, and one that’s contrary to a stated commitment by his government to ensure integrity in governance. At  first, it could be viewed by some, as claimed by Mr Bristol,  to be an “error of judgment” in sending on an official letterhead from the Officer of the Attorney General a letter to a United States prosecutor seeking clemency on behalf of his stepson.

There are numerous examples of claimed minor errors of judgment, often extending to major ones, much to the discredit of a government and country.

To his credit and a government just a year and 16 days old, Prime Minister Thomas felt that it was better to honour a pledge made to the electorate to maintain integrity, rather than expediently rationalise the Attorney General’s “error of judgment.”

For, as Thomas would be aware, such an approach could be exploited as a precedent by others to undermine that very commitment made by the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the July 2008 general election.

During the election campaign, allegations of corruption and abuse of power were among controversial issues. The election ended with the defeat of the incumbent New National Party (NNP) of then Prime Minister Keith Mitchell by Thomas’ NDC. 

Recently, this newspaper felt it necessary to praise Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham of The Bahamas for his courage and decency in publicly rebuking personnel of his country’s immigration service for engaging in discrimination against Jamaican visitors, and also over allegations of corruption by those “who look the other way for a price…”  

Condoning corruption in any branch of government, any section of the public service, any case of conflict of interest — resulting from claimed “error of judgment” or else — could come to haunt a government that is anxious to be perceived as committed to integrity and public accountability.

In our Caribbean Community today, there are ongoing controversies over allegations about corruption and lack of transparency in public life. Therefore, the more a government seems willing to encourage and sustain integrity, the better it is for such an administration, and the country it serves.

Discrimination and corruption, as denounced by Prime Minister Ingraham in relation to aspects of functioning by immigration personnel, or the intervention by Prime Minister Thomas in requesting the resignation of his Attorney General over the evident misuse of his legal office, offer encouraging  signals for governments elsewhere that are also committed to integrity and accountability.