THISDAYonline

A founding member of Transparency Internatio-nal, and Secretary-Gene-ral Jamaica, Ms Beth Aub, has resigned her membership of the global anti-corruption body with effect from January 31, alleging corrupt practices, among others.

In a letter dated January 11, and addressed to Chairman of the Board, Peter Eigen, Ms Aub said she was resigning in protest against some "policies and practices being pursued by the governing body of Transparency International" and which she does not wish to be associated with.

Chief among Ms Aub's complaints, which she describes as the "last straw that broke the camel's back", was the practice of "facilitation payments" by the TI, a term she described as another name for bribery and corruption.

According to her, "the mandate of TI is to fight corruption. Bribery has always been against the basic principles of TI, and a principle is a principle is a principle. It is unchangeable." She wondered how TI, the number one anti-corruption organisation in the world, could contemplate tolerating facilitation payments.

Facilitation payments are "small payments" or "gifts" that are made, often in international businesses to facilitate actions or approval on certain processes, for example, securing permits and clearing goods through customs. The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other related laws by Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries permit facilitation payment, and regard it as "petty corruption."

Ms Aub, however, argued that it is wrong for an organisation like the TI to even contemplate any form of corruption and yet, "keep any credibility." According to her, Transparency International has repeatedly defended the practice by insisting that it is "not quite" the same thing as a bribe.

"When is a principle 'not quite' a principle?" she asked. "It either is, or it isn't. Transparency must stand by its stated principles. Sophisticated 'not quite' type of arguments that blur a clear-cut principle will sound TI's moral death-knell, and should be firmly condemned," she declared.

Ms Aub added that when she attended a workshop on the issue of facilitation payments, the representatives of all developing countries were united against the practice. "Yet, this was not reflected by the reportage," she wrote in the letter.

Ms. Aub also complained of some other practices of TI, which she describes as "undemocratic." One of these is the appointment of "Personal Active Members" who, as opposed to the "Active Members" that are drawn from national chapters of TI, are appointed on personal recognition and have no national constituencies.

She queried the essence of appointing Personal Active Members, and wondered whether the individuals are so appointed because of their "service or financial contribution to TI." The practice, she pointed out, has the tendency to "skew" results of elections.

"In other global organisations, such as the United Nations, it is the representative of each independent country who is understood to vote on behalf of the interests of that country. Therefore, following this model, the TI Personal Active Members, having no constituency, should have no vote," she stated.

The former scribe also complained that reports of workshops on "controversial issues" like "accreditation payments" and "facilitation payments" do not reflect the views expressed by majority of participants and the workshops themselves are not properly assessed.

"Indeed, the reports made to the plenary sessions were so different from the general views that had been voiced in the workshops which I attended, that I conclude that decisions had already been made and positions already taken prior to the workshop itself." The workshops, she wrote, "are in essence, a sham."

Giving these reasons, Ms Aub said, she has to part ways with the international anti-corruption body. Ms Aub, a writer, was a founding member of Transpa-rency International.

TI is the only international NGO devoted to fighting corruption across the world through a coalition that brings together civil society, business and governments.

It has more than 90 national chapters around the world, and "raises awareness about the damaging effects of corruption advocates for policy reform."

It is mostly known for its annual "Corruption Perception Index" which seeks to rate countries according to how corrupt people perceive them to be. Last year, it rated Nigeria the second most corrupt country in the world.