(Barbados Today) Parliament has passed the Integrity in Public Life Act (2020) meant to deter and punish corruption by politicians and senior public officers, as well as chairmen, and high-ranking managers of state-owned enterprises.
Held up for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the reviews of a select committee, debate on the legislation resumed on Tuesday and was piloted by Prime Minister Mia Mottley in the House of Assembly. She labelled the anti-corruption legislation a significant development in the island’s governance.
It comes after the unprecedented conviction of former St James South MP Donville Inniss in the United States on money laundering charges that involved an insurance company and a state agency.
But the new legislation, the groundwork for which was laid by the former Democratic Labour Party administration, will mandate the declaration of assets by all Members of Parliament, members of the Senate, Cabinet, Permanent Secretaries, all heads of departments within the Public Service and holders of public office in the same grade as well as those who head departments, chairpersons of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), chief executive officers, general managers and other executive heads of SOEs, magistrates and Directors of Public Prosecution, the Auditor General, members and senior officers of the soon-to-be established Integrity Commission.
