Afra Raymond: Three myths about corruption

“In an unprecedented fit of generosity — and I use that word carefully — the government of the day made a written commitment to repay all of the creditors,” says Afra Raymond in today’s talk. “It’s not just like Wall Street. Trinidad and Tobago is a place with different laws of physics.”

In today’s talk, given at TEDxPortofSpain — which happened to be held inside Trinidad and Tobago’s Central Bank — Raymond calls for greater transparency and accountability in his government’s financial dealings. In the talk, he takes a look at several recent examples of government corruption — as well as one that has haunted him for 30 years. While Trinidad and Tobago became wealthy in the 1970s as the value of oil increased, the government quickly ran out of funds. In 1982, the Prime Minister revealed that only 1 out of every 3 dollars that had been earmarked for development had been used to produce goods and services. Sadly, 2 out of every 3 dollars had been wasted or stolen.

To hear more about these cases of corruption — and the three myths of corruption that Raymond wants to break — watch this brave talk. And here, more talks on government corruption in countries like England, Kenya, Germany and India, that show that this is a problem without borders.

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