One of the difficult tasks legislators would face in drawing up the new anti-corruption laws would be defining the line between a ‘gift’ and a bribe.

Perhaps it has been said already but if it has not been, then the former Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Customs and Revenue Matafeo Avalisa Viali-Fautuaalii needs to be commended for being an accountable and transparent senior civil servant.

Her actions in not accepting dinner invitations and the $5,000 bribe from the Chinese sea cucumber Qingping Yanm showed that we have incorruptible civil servants. That is one of the key qualities all civil servants should possess.

That is accountability, unlike how some top figures showed up in Hong Kong to launch companies that could not even operate in Samoa in an all-expenses-paid trip.

Yan tried to smuggle sea cucumbers worth $1.8 million out of the country during a time when there was a ban on the export of marine species. He collected more than six tonnes of it during the time the ban was on. How is that even possible? It makes you think that bribery had always been used even before Yan’s encounter with Matafeo.

It is hard to imagine how that amount of sea cucumber was collected. It would have involved villages and their leaders. They knowing too well that a ban was placed on sea cucumbers have possibly facilitated the catch for monetary gain. That is also a form of bribery.

Yan’s deed was only caught when he tried to export the container and he was told that it would be checked. To stop this, he tried to offer bribes to the CEO and this backfired. But why would he think of bribery? Could it be that this was his mode of business in acquiring the six tonnes of sea cucumber?

Yan will spend six months in jail, pay a hefty fine of $130,000, and will be immediately deported upon his release from jail.

District Court Judge Matautia Raymond Schuster emphasised the seriousness of the bribery charge.

He said the amount of money involved, especially the monitoring and regulatory government ministries being the target warrants a harsh penalty for deterrence.  Judge Schuster noted the most recent cases involving bribery confirmed that Asian foreigners were the most prominent offenders.

“There is a suggestion from the defence counsel and prosecution that this may be a common practice [bribery] but it should not be condoned by law,” he added.

The judge referenced election petitions stating there seems to be a blurred line between what is customary gifting and bribery and that line must be made clear. “In this case imprisonment term is unavoidable unless there are exceptional circumstances,” he said, confirming there was no exceptional circumstance in Yan’s case.

Even in this case, the prosecution and the defence told the court to minimise the bribery charge. The court has done well to disregard those submissions.

“Such leniency as I would interpret would send a wrong message to like-minded persons especially when the court already dealt harshly with much lesser cases…corruption and bribery are festering sore in any nation,” said the judge.

The court also noted the government’s intention to stop corruption as it “hinders the democratic and economic development of this nation” by launching the National Anti-Corruption Policy.  

The launch of this policy is welcomed, however, the legislation that should accompany it is yet to be drafted. The biggest thing would be as the judge said and as Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa said during the launch, demarcating what a gift is in customary practice.

Maybe, this is the best time to define what a gift is during elections and what is not. This will take the load off the courts who are left to deal with the election petitions. The nation awaits the anti-corruption law and the entity that would be set up to deal with it.

At the end of the day, the people want a transparent and accountable government and if laws bring that then no time should be wasted in setting this up.

Only time will tell if the launch of the anti-corruption was to tick another box in the long list of United Nations requirements or if there is a seriousness in ridding corruption.