TTTI calls for the removal of the Anti-corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB) from under the purview of the Ministry of the Attorney General

Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) joins the calls to have the Anti-corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB) removed from under the purview of the Ministry of the Attorney General. TTTI believes that this move is necessary if the ACIB is to properly address corruption in the public and private sectors without any challenge, perceived or real, to its impartiality and independence. Public confidence in the operations of the ACIB is paramount if the Bureau is to succeed in its mandate.

TTTI notes, according to media reports in November 2018, the Commissioner of Police announced that in order to deal with white collar crime, there will be strategic reassignments and merging of certain units such as the Financial Investigations Branch to work with the Cyber¬crime Unit, Fraud Squad, Pro¬fes¬sion¬al Standards Bureau and the Anti-Corruption Intelligence Unit. TTTI calls for early action in this regard as this movement would increase the ACIB’s ability to effectively fulfil its mission to “establish and maintain confidence in public and private institutions by conducting prompt, unbiased and professional investigations …”

In January 2019, TTTI launched the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Trinidad and Tobago’s score remained the same as the previous year (41) in the lower 2/3rds of the 180 countries surveyed indicating that significant work has to be done to reduce the perception of corruption in the public sector. As discussed at the TTTI’s CPI launch, the movement of the ACIB into the folds of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service is a step in the right direction.

TTTI therefore endorses and supports the call for the movement of the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau to the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Police to work with other strategically aligned units to independently, effectively and efficiently deal with corruption related matters.