Antigua and Barbuda are English speaking island sovereign states located in the West Indies. Antigua and Barbuda have been independent of the United Kingdom since the early 80’s and most of the money invested is from tourism alone. As Kincaid explains, Antigua specifically, is known for corruption cases in the past and currently. The definition of corruption according to Merriam-Webster dictionary is “Dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people”. When the people with the most authority aren’t leading correctly in any country or territory, the public has no voice or impact to create change.
John Ashe, Antigua’s UN diplomat and a man that held other admirable accolades, was caught on charges of corruption in the United States in 2015. He was claimed to have received bribes in over 1 million US dollars during his duration as diplomat. He used the money to pocket himself and purchase luxury items. The effects of corruption cases in Antigua include Anti-corruption Framework in the United Nations to prevent further corruption. Another case includes the notorious R. Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme which was not thoroughly investigated and participants are not being prosecuted. To elaborate, the Stanford Ponzi scheme was used as a base of operation to funnel money in and out of banks and being used for illegal purposes.
How does extreme corruption like these cases effect Antigua and Barbuda’s future? Corruption serves many problems within communities such as economic loss, poverty and inequality, public and private sector dysfunction, organized crime and terriorism , etc. When a community is corrupt the public lacks constitutional and human rights because the government cannot be depended on and the poor becomes vulnerable. Overall, the corruption scandals revolving around Antigua and Barbuda and the United Nations halt all around growth and create an uneven distribution of wealth within the community.
Sources:
Bak, Mathias. “Overview of Corruption and Anti-Corruption in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.” U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, 2019, www.u4.no/publications/overview-of-corruption-and-anti-corruption-in-antigua-and-barbuda-barbados-dominica-guyana-jamaica-st-lucia-and-trinidad-and-tobago.
Clarke, Stephen. “Antigua and Barbuda: History of Corruption and the Stanford Case.” Antigua and Barbuda: History of Corruption and the Stanford Case | Law Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/law/help/ag-corruption/stanford.php.
“Corruption.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/corruption. Accessed 14 Nov. 2020
Katharina.kiener-Manu. Anti-Corruption Module 1 Key Issues: Effects of Corruption, Sept. 2019, www.unodc.org/e4j/en/anti-corruption/module-1/key-issues/effects-of-corruption.html.
Lexi,
Thank you so much for sharing this information about Antigua and Barbuda; I really enjoyed reading it. I was really surprised to read that John Ashe, Antigua’s UN diplomat received such massive bribes, though I am glad that this corruption was exposed. Your research is fascinating, and my exposure to information about Antigua and Barbuda is fairly limited. Thanks!
Hi Lexi!
Thank you for enlightening us about the corruption that has and is still taking place in Antigua and Barbuda. It is unfortunate to hear that government corruption is prevalent is so many countries around the world. Additionally, it is really interesting how the corruption of one or a few individuals, can lead to economic issues for the rest of the country.