U.S. diplomats are fully aware of the rampant corruption in Bahamian politics. This is revelaed in one of the diplomatic cables that The Nassau Guardian received from WikiLeaks.
In the 2006 cable, the American diplomat wrote, “Corruption in politics is a serious but largely ignored problem in the Bahamas.”
“This corruption is a product of a lack of transparency about the government’s decision-making and financial dealings, a lack of any campaign finance rules regarding the origin of donations, the pressure to spend heavily and become heavily indebted to financial supporters during campaign season and a culture of secrecy in Bahamian government and politics.”
This, of course, does not surprise anyone, especially not Bahamians.
The diplomat referred to a sermon given in October 2006 by then Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez who criticized the corruption in the Bahamian government with then Prime Minister Perry Christie sitting in the front pew.
The Guardian reports that the secret cable noted that Gomez launched a stern rebuke of corruption and poor ethical standards in politics, calling for campaign finance reform and criticizing politicians on the take.
“The remarks clearly targeted Christie, whose 2002 election platform called for campaign finance reform and higher ethical standards for parliamentarians – this in part to distance his Progressive Liberal Party from the corrupt PLP administration under former PM Lynden Pindling,” the cable said.
The U.S. diplomat noted that the PLP failed to live up to its 2002 election promises of campaign finance reform.
“Despite holding an overwhelming majority in Parliament, the PLP has yet to introduce a single piece of legislation to regulate the financing of political campaigns or enforce ethical standards among MPs,” the cable said.
“Politicians traditionally spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to gain a parliamentary seat in a country of 300,000 persons,” the diplomat wrote.
“Much of the money is used to purchase gifts for voters, from Christmas hams to household appliances. To finance these gifts, politicians turn to outside support, with an understanding that help financing a successful campaign results in the award of government contracts.”
The cable said millions of dollars were allegedly obtained from “questionable sources” in the 2002 campaign.
