St. George’s, Grenada – December 10, 2008: – Grenada is a step closer to establishing an Integrity Commission, whose mission will include combating and eliminating corruption among public officials.

For many years, allegations of corruption dogged the leader and other members of the New National Party, which was ousted from office in the general election of July 8.

Commonwealth Secretariat representative, Roger Koranteng, wrapped up a three-day “advisory mission to Grenada” on Wednesday, in what was described as an attempt to “engage key stakeholders in discussing and finalizing details on proposals” for setting the Integrity Commission and an Office of the Ombudsman.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has said that its aim is to “provide the technical capacity necessary to enable Grenada to effectively establish and launch both the Integrity Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman.”

As for the Integrity Commission, it is seen as a “major mechanism to ensure integrity of persons in public life.”  It will also seek to “enable the obtaining of declarations of assets, liabilities, income and interests in relation to property of persons in public life.”

The broad goals of the Office of the Ombudsman will include creating “an incentive for improved standards and service-delivery across the public sector,” reducing the “perception of cover-ups in government service,” and inspiring “greater trust and confidence in the governance process.”.