To say that the recent bombshell news of the arrest, in New York, of former Antigua and Barbuda ambassador to the United Nations and 2013-2014 UN General Assembly president Dr John Ashe, on charges of corruption and tax evasion, is deeply embarrassing to his country and Caricom as a whole would be a gross understatement.
For a region already reeling from the allegations of corruption, racketeering and money laundering levelled against former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who was, to boot, a minister from 2010 to 2013 in the People’s Partnership government in Trinidad and Tobago, and other Caribbean football officials, the latest revelations would only serve to corroborate negative stereotypes that find fertile ground in the minds of those who are only too happy to dismiss us as a motley collection of banana republics, crooks and mendicants.
As reported, Dr Ashe is accused of accepting US$1.3M in bribes, between 2011 and 2014, from Chinese billionaire real estate developer Ng Lap Seng to help him, among other things, win government contracts to build a multibillion-dollar, UN-endorsed conference centre in Macau and to facilitate meetings with government officials in Antigua and Kenya to help him land big development contracts. According to US Federal Attorney Preet Bharara, the former ambassador “converted the UN into a platform for profit”. Five other co-conspirators, including Mr Ng and a diplomat from the Dominican Republic, have also been charged.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that he is “shocked and deeply troubled” by the allegations; his official spokesman has said that they “go to the heart of the integrity of the United Nations.” But UN concern for its image is as nothing compared to the shock and shame spreading in the Caribbean, especially as latest reports suggest that former Antigua and Barbuda United Progressive Party (UPP) Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer may also be implicated. A UPP spokesman has promised a statement once Mr Spencer has had a chance to “study” the allegations.
For its part, the ruling Antigua Labour Party (ALP) has moved quickly to distance itself from Dr Ashe, noting that he was appointed ambassador by the UPP government and was replaced when the ALP was elected in 2014. This would suggest that, contrary to Dr Ashe’s reported intention to “assert the full range of immunity” to which he believes he is entitled, he may not currently enjoy any immunity. Indeed, if he is innocent of the charges, why would he need immunity?
Now, Dr Ashe is, according to the law, innocent until proven guilty, as is Mr Warner. In contrast to the colourful, former football supremo and politician, little is known, outside of diplomatic circles, of the ex-ambassador; he certainly does not enjoy Mr Warner’s international and regional reputation for being, at the very least, a sharp operator. There is, however, a firm belief, in the court of public opinion, that if the US federal authorities are confident enough to press charges, then, as with Mr Warner, they must have a pretty strong case against Dr Ashe. And whilst US prosecutors bear the burden of proof to produce the evidence needed to convict Dr Ashe and his co-accused, it is also up to Dr Ashe to clear his name in a manner that would satisfy his personal honour and that of his country and region.
But this is only the beginning. Mr Bharara has promised more information to come and more arrests are likely. It therefore also behoves Mr Spencer to issue an unequivocal statement in the shortest possible time to dispel the whiff of corruption, or at the very least, influence peddling – a bit of a grey area in our part of the world – arising from the allegations.
And even as the UN hastens to assert that “Corruption is not business as usual at the UN”, the ALP government of Prime Minister Gaston Browne and, indeed, the entire Caribbean Community should seize the opportunity to take a strong stand against corruption and influence peddling. The message should be clear to all: corruption cannot and should not be business as usual in the Caribbean. Too much damage has been and continues to be done to the region’s image.