Dear Editor,
Public misinformation by the government, its information arms and state media is doing grave disservice to society. Government does not function in isolation from its people and laws, external forces and institutions, and has to be mindful of setting and maintaining standards that will not bring the state into disrepute.
The public, local and external, continues to be misinformed that there is a Ministry of Citizenship and a Ministry of Social Cohesion. The two are not ministries, they are departments within the Ministry of the Presidency and each department has a subject minister attached, who is a Minister within the Ministry of the Presidency. It is the same situation with Labour which has been emasculated to a department in the newly constituted Ministry of Social Protection.
Over the past days we are learning about a Minster of Public Service in the Ministry of the Presidency. The public service is a department within this ministry. The minster attached to this department should be holding the portfolio as Minister within the Ministry of the Presidency with responsibility for Public Service.
You cannot have ministries within a ministry. It does not make sense nor is it a logical practice of governance anywhere, and there is a reason for this given roles, responsibilities and reporting relationships. Citizenship, Labour, Social Cohesion and the Public Service are departments gazetted within ministries.
This public misinformation, whether deliberate or careless, must cease, since not only does it have legal repercussions, but it makes for the miseducation of our children, and poses a conundrum for countries as well as regional and international institutions relating with us. Where the government and its arms find it convenient to continue on this path others are being implored not to do likewise.
Article 117 (1) of the Guyana Constitution expressly says, “There shall be a Secretary to the Cabinet whose office shall be a public office.” Public office, as it relates to the Constitution, is understood to be devoid of party and partisan politics. The last time this office was occupied by such a person it was Tyrone Ferguson under the presidency of Desmond Hoyte.
Under the PPP/C, Roger Luncheon, a member of its Central Committee and active politician occupied the office. This act was challenged by Hoyte. The PPP/C partially relented by appointing Nanda Gopaul as Head of the Public Service as Luncheon held on to the post as Secretary to the Cabinet. While the PPP/C started the bastardisation of the office, the APNU+AFC has taken it to another low.
This position is today being held by Joseph Harmon, who is a Minister of government, a member of the Cabinet, APNU+AFC Member of Parliament, and General Secretary of APNU. This is as far away from public office as can be. The silence of the PPP/C on this issue leaves one to believe the party sees itself returning to government shortly and would use violations such as these as precedents to further bastardise the Constitution.
The post of Deputy Regional Executive Officer falls within the purview of the constitutional Public Service Commission (PSC). The authority is vested only in this body to determine who fills the post. To operate contrary to this constitutes a violation of Public Service rules and undermines the PSC’s constitutional authority.
The current political operatives when they were in opposition incessantly called for respecting the Constitution. Now in office the nation continues to bear witness to its cherry-picking for personal advancement. Let me remind this
administration, the PPP/C was fired by the people owing to their contempt for the rule of law, which wreaked havoc on the society. This administration was hired on the commitment not to do likewise.
The slippages in governance and disregard for laws must stop now. Some may consider these acts infinitesimal, but to do so is only to make way for more until they become a floodgate and deluge us. We must nip the missteps and early signs of lawlessness in the bud.
This society needs to return to its militant mode, for experience has taught us when the PPP/C was in office it started in similar vein. Few of us fought back as others remained silent or asked that they be given a chance. It was only a matter of time before that administration’s conduct became cancerous.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis
