The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE Organisation of American States’ Anti-Corruption Mechanism last week conducted a three-day on-site assessment of the Bahamas on the implementation of a convention against corruption in the lead-up to the enactment of new gaming regulations.

The Commission of Anti-Corruption, according to an OAS press statement, met to gather information on potential difficulties with the compliance of the Inter-American Convention.

It further looked at the implementation of recommendations that were formulated by the Commission of the Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) to the Bahamas in the first round of analysis. The assessments were carried out from September 23 to 25.

They pertain to the prevention of conflicts of interest and post-employment restrictions, systems for registering income, assets and liabilities of public servants and the regime for access to information.

Results from this visit form a part of the review process for the fourth round of analysis by the OAS currently underway. It will conclude with the adoption of the Bahamas country report to be held in March 2015 at the OAS headquarters in Washington, DC.

Prior to the assessment, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson welcomed the commission and highlighted the importance and significance to the Bahamas of the on-site visit as part of the efforts carried out by the OAS, through MESICIC, in the fight against corruption.

For three days, there were discussions between the commission and the Attorney General’s Office, the Public Disclosure Commission, the auditor general of the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Public Accounts Committee and the Compliance Commission.

The commission was made up of Tatiana Guti�rrez Delgado, lead expert of Costa Rica to the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC and public ethics prosecutor in the Attorney General’s Office, and Rodrigo Silva, officer in the Department of Legal Cooperation of the OAS General Secretariat.

MESICIC is a cooperation mechanism between member states, with the participation of civil society organisations, established within the framework of the OAS, in which the legal and institutional framework of each country is reviewed for suitability with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.

On-site visits, the OAS said, are an integral part of the MESICIC review process representing an innovative and pioneering initiative in the context of the OAS, especially for a peer review mechanism and the importance of the issues it addresses.