As two high-profile corruption controversies continue to dominate public discourse in Belize, long-stalled anti-corruption reforms aligned with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) have once again jumped to the top of the national policy agenda.
The small Central American nation has long grappled with repeated corruption scandals, but it has failed to build a robust institutional framework capable of preventing corrupt activity, launching thorough investigations, and holding bad actors accountable for violating public trust. Today, the unresolved Mira Millions affair and lingering questions about irregular procurement practices at the Ministry of Defense have renewed public pressure for action, forcing a reckoning with a pledge Belize made a decade ago to fully implement UNCAC, the world’s only legally binding global anti-corruption agreement.
UNCAC is widely recognized as a comprehensive global blueprint for strengthening government transparency, enforcing public accountability, and safeguarding state resources from misappropriation. While Belize signed onto the convention in 2016, full national implementation has moved at a glacial pace, blocked by gaps in domestic legislation, limited technical capacity within government institutions, and the significant upfront costs associated with systemic reform. This week, local outlet News Five’s senior correspondent Isani Cayetano investigated why the decade-old promise remains unfulfilled, and why growing numbers of Belizean citizens argue the country can no longer afford to leave anti-corruption reform as an unfinished priority.
In his on-the-ground reporting, Cayetano outlines how growing public anger over the two ongoing scandals has built new momentum for finally putting UNCAC’s requirements into national law. Phillip Willoughby, an aspiring councilor for Belize’s opposition United Democratic Party, framed the reform as non-negotiable, telling reporters: “Nuh care what no government do, the only thing that will stop corruption in this country is UNCAC. They need to give us UNCAC.”
As the U.N. describes it, UNCAC functions as a complete anti-corruption toolkit that imposes binding legal obligations on signatory nations to address gaps in governance. Speaking in a past address, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres explained the far-reaching harm of unregulated corruption: “Society cannot function equitably and efficiently when public officials from doctors, to police, judges to politicians, enriches themselves rather than perform their duties with integrity. Corruption robs funds from schools, hospital, infrastructure and other vital services.”
Nearly 10 years after Belize signed on to the convention, full implementation remains stalled. Cesar Ross, Director of Belize’s Good Governance unit, which leads the reform process, says limited government funding and a shortage of specialized technical capacity are the primary barriers holding back progress. Ross noted that the small team of legislative drafters and crown counsels responsible for drafting the required new laws are already overloaded with existing work, slowing the process dramatically. “Wherever possible we would like to bring in a consultant to develop and draft the legislation. That is what we need to do, but that entails a certain amount of expenditure right,” he explained in an interview with News Five.
Despite the delays, Ross emphasized that the reform process has not stopped entirely. He highlighted one key milestone: a finalized draft of new whistleblower protection legislation, modeled after UNCAC requirements, that would shield individuals who come forward with evidence of public sector misconduct. This framework is particularly relevant amid the current Mira Millions scandal, which was sparked by an anonymous whistleblower who leaked sensitive Smart Stream invoices exposing potential irregularities. “The legislation and the elements within the legislation are there to ensure that any complaint made is processed that the reporting authority has to look at it seriously. And in it we are putting in that if they minimize its importance and say it is frivolous that there be another opportunity for that move forward,” Ross said.
Ross stressed that passing new legislation aligned with UNCAC is not the end goal of reform. True success, he argued, will only come when these new laws produce tangible results – including successful prosecutions and convictions of corrupt public officials, and a measurable reduction in the millions of dollars lost annually to corrupt activity in procurement, contracting, and other high-risk public sectors. “The creating of the legislation is not the end point. It is applying them and showing them, when we can say that there is so much less corruption occurring. I remember one time saying that there is so many millions we are losing to certain levels of corruption, whether it is contractor or procurement or areas as such,” he explained.
While Ross acknowledged that Belize is still likely years away from full, complete implementation of all UNCAC requirements, he confirmed that reform work is now moving forward, and his unit is prioritizing closing the legislative and institutional gaps that have allowed corruption to take root across the Belizean public sector.