Dickson Igwe, Senior political contributor
The only people nervous and bothered with the COI are those who stand to benefit from the status quo: Conflict of Interest, Entitlement, and those who depend on government handout.
However, it is not the British Virgin Islands alone that benefits from public investigations and probes.
History has proven that countries where there are checks on the power of the executive branch of government are the most developed and prosperous.
If the Virgin Islands is to see strong social development, and true economic prosperity, it will not achieve these with the type of governance that has existed over the past thirty years.
Consequently, we must all view the COI as a blessing.
Every squirm and squeal of a high official over some revelation or exposure is good for us all.
Why was that matter hidden if it was not an issue? Why was cash spent carelessly when the kids still have to inhabit schools that are well below the global benchmark?
These are the questions that the COI is attempting to answer.
And that is why the COI must become a permanent agency and check on political impunity that so often here and elsewhere takes on a demon of its own, and then goes on to destroy the quality and standard of living.
This Old Boy a few weeks back spoke to a person with insight into foreign investors.
The good lady stated that the COI was viewed as an excellent thing by global investors as it showed a country being held accountable for the quality of its governance.
Long may the Commission live.
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Dickson Igwe is an education official in the Virgin Islands. He is also a national sea safety instructor. He writes a national column across media and has authored a story book on the Caribbean: 'The Adventures of a West Indian Villager'. Dickson is focused on economics articles, and he believes economics holds the answer to the full economic and social development of the Caribbean. He is of both West African and Caribbean heritage. Dickson is married with one son.
