Dear Editor,
In the preamble to the Guyana Constitution it says:
“We The Guyanese People… forge a system of governance that promotes concerted effort and broad-based participation in national decision making in order to develop a viable economy…”
When you are the government, you make the rules. Blaming all and sundry but yourself for policy mistakes is the act of weak leaders. Today the private sector is being accused of not investing in the economy, but the government refuses to accept this state of affairs is a direct consequence their own policy paralysis. Worse yet, the workers are being penalized with oppressive taxes on essentials such as electricity and water, and yet the Granger administration expects them to be highly motivated and productive. Utterly delusional!
Leadership is about delivering for the people in an environment into which high morals and ethical standards have percolated. When one observes the financial happenings in this Granger administration one wonders what changes were they advocating on the 2015 campaign. It is unfortunate that President Granger seems to be trapped in this web of deception that makes him less impactful when it comes to these acts of state abuse under his watch. This leadership lethargy just continues to undermine his potential legacy. Who really is making the decisions in this PNC-led government? Is there an Imperium in Imperio in the Granger administration?
The latest allegation of financial impropriety is the revelation that the Minister of Public Health found the need to bypass the National Tender Board and sole source some $605 million in medical supplies from an alledged financial sponsor of the PNC in past elections. So was the promise to bring an end to sole sourcing in the procurement of medical supplies by the PNC during the 2015 campaign just a ruse to fool the people?
Then there is that abomination of the appointment of permanent secretaries that happened in March 2017. Of the sixteen identified permanent secretaries, only one person of Indian ancestry was deemed qualified to serve in the Granger government at this senior level. This state of affairs was quite a let down for many people who have ancestors that served our country at all levels for over 175 years. This situation is nothing but a grave insult to many Indians and exposes how indifferent and insensitive the administration is to this whole question of social cohesion and national harmony. It is nothing but a big joke.
But it is also a grave insult to right thinking non-Indians who are open to moulding a society where merit is the principle criterion for getting ahead, not which tribe you belong to or whether you have a military buddy in the Ministry of the Presidency.
President Granger should be ashamed for allowing such a situation to occur under his watch. This a new low from the PNC and would have never happened under the more ethnically intelligent Mr Desmond Hoyte. Even Burnham was more ethnically intelligent with his appointments.
Only a fool will think that this act of ethnic supremacy will develop a multi-racial, multi-religious country like Guyana. When a leader refuses to commit in words and deeds to the growth of all of the people in the nation, then that leader must know he will never be able to tap the primal energies of the majority of the people. In such a situation further economic decline is guaranteed and thus as a consequence there will be a rapid expansion of poverty. Does anyone expect any right-thinking UG graduate will stick around for that eventuality?
If we continue on this road, we can kiss goodbye to any thought of economic recovery in 2018 and 2019. An opportunity to serve should be driven by competence and suitability, not by the criterion of who has a ‘godfather’. If you want to inspire the best from all of your people, the ground rules must be well-defined and clearly communicated so that all have a fair shot at getting ahead in an environment saturated with fairness. Such an environment does not exist under Presi-dent David Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
As I reflect on President Granger’s inauguration speech and to these specific words that he said “Let us co-operate for Guyana”, I wonder, were they merely words?
Yours faithfully,
Sase Singh
