The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Engaging citizens is vital to promoting greater transparency and curbing corruption, Transparency International’s regional director calling for civic groups to offer solutions rather than merely be seen as “angry activists”.

Alejandro Salas told a presentation hosted by

the advocacy group, Citizens for a Better Bahamas: “We need to be well prepared to to provide suggestions and advice.

“If we are asked to provide advice on how to improve certain things, we need to know and give good options. At some level we should try not to be seen as a rebellious civil society. We shouldn’t be seen as angry activists but be able to provide advice and suggestions.

“We need to help people understand how corruption affects them so they demand  transparency and anti-corruption measures, and at the same time we need to be good technical advisors.”

Citizens for a Better Bahamas, which was founded in November 2013, is looking to partner with Transparency International, which has 104 national chapters around the world.

Citizens for a Better Bahamas’ policy subcommittee chairman, attorney Lemarque Campbell, who spent two years working as a legal analyst for Transparency International, said the local group was pushing for a number of reforms, including enactment of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), greater transparency in the Government’s public procurement process and whistleblower protection.

Mr Salas said: “We need to mobilise the people. We need people to channel in a constructive way their frustration with corruption. It’s about citizen engagement.The politicians need to see that transparency is important and is something that people are demanding.

“It’s not about getting angry. If we can help people channel their frustration into something more concrete and they can see how corruption is perhaps harming their access to education or electricity, for example.Translating corruption into the daily lives of people I think is one of the strongest connections.”