Stop preaching and teach

Feb 14, 2009 Letters

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Dear Editor,
A few months ago Francis Quamina, of the ‘Tides of Susanburg’ fame reminded us about the lyrics of the patriot folk song, ‘Onward upward may we ever go, day by day in strength and beauty grow’…jarring my memory back to those Broadcast to School programs with Celeste Dolphin on the radio.

I recalled my school teacher hitting her ruler on the desk saying, “stop daydreaming and sing,” actually, I wasn’t daydreaming, I was a victim of what village folks call ‘niggeritis,’ a siesta that sets in after a finger licking lunch coupled with the afternoon breeze visiting the school yard.

Unknown to us listeners, those brief radio episodes became teachable moments about patriotism. As a result, I came to realize that just like the other kids I, too, was ‘Born in the land of the mighty Roraima, the land of great rivers and far stretching seas.’ Learning about our ‘Dear land of Guyana’ gave me a sense of identity and a sense of belonging with national pride.

The late Wordsworth Mac once shared this folklore with me as a teenager. Three kids were playing on the Parade ground when they saw this barefoot stranger approaching. Immediately, they identified him from his garb, as ‘Country come to town.’

So, they mischievously yelled out to him, “ Yo! Countryman wha ya doin ova hay?” the stranger replied, “meh guh Big market lil cuzin.” “Stabroek market?” one kid asked, while another one pointing said, “Countryman Big market deh far far from hay,” the stranger then asked, “ow far mo ah ga fu guh smally?” laughing tantalizingly one kid muttered, “Countryman lik ya lass caz Big market nah deh bout hay um deh til ova suh,” the stranger opined, “lass?.. na na, meh na lass, ah Big market iz de wan dat lass… meh deh rite hay wid de tree alya .”

Now more than ever, Mac’s folklore mirrors the plight of the Guyanese people, because the Executive branch is the entity that is at a loss for answers and not the people, who have been right there all along being good citizens.

Today is a new day, where social and political changes are already in motion however, aggressive political leadership must surge forward to where the answers are hidden and not backwards for more of the same. The struggle for public service representation is always about the future and never, yes never about the past.

Irrespective of where you stand on the issues, all evidence shows that, racial and ethnic voting patterns are the destructive cornerstones of Guyana’s electoral history. Most academics and social scientists tell us that, the genesis for racial and ethnic confrontations are ignorance and information blackout.

Therefore, finding new ways for correcting this historic dilemma must now be the foundation on which tomorrow’s rules of engagement are structured.

Every year, new young starry-eyed first time voters are coming unto the rolls of the electorate via registration, so there is a golden opportunity here to introduce them to the real world of participatory democracy and the values of good governance.

Right here is the chance to break away from the past and into the front line of attack, in the battle to combat racial and ethnic voting patterns. These new potential voters must be exposed, as part of their education process, to the concept of the three co-equal branches of government.

The Speaker of the National Assembly presides over the Legislative Branch or the Parliament, which is responsible by statute for making laws. The Judicial Branch and the Courts of Appeal, which are headed by the Chief Justice is responsible for due process and interpreting all laws. Finally, the Executive Branch, which the President leads as the chief Public Servant, has sole responsible for executing and enforcing the decisions made by the other two branches.

Additionally, that in a true functioning democracy no single branch is allowed to usurp the power or the independence of another branch, because their roles and purposes are diametrically different in this Westminster version.

If Guyana is being governed as an elected democracy, as touted by the cohorts of the political party in power, then the next lesson for combating racial and ethnic voting patterns must be understanding the total ramifications of free and fair elections.

These new registrants must learn that voting is a sacred and legal right guaranteed to all eligible citizens by the constitution. That their vote belongs to them individually, to cast as they see fit, and not to any specific political party, family member or organization.

Now, here comes the big question, which must be answered in all sincerity.
Because, if they are the owners of this sacred act of citizenship, then why would they give their vote to people who bully them, or threaten them with public ultimatums, or knowingly mislead them, or maliciously withhold basic public service from them and just plain and simply make their lives miserable?…

These answers must not be assumed or anticipated but debated in an open forum, where they will learn that, as taxpaying voters they hold the power to give their vote only to people, who will look out for them by executing PUBLIC SERVICE chores on their behalf with honesty and integrity. Combating ignorance or information blackout is about sharing knowledge by teaching and not by preaching.

Combating historic racial and ethnic voting patterns are also about teaching and not preaching,
On the other hand, party ideology, political campaigning, party planks and platform politicking are all about preaching to the same choir, been there and done that already.

Right about now, if you listen carefully you can hear my teacher banging her ruler on the desk saying, Mwanasiasa (politician) stop preaching and sing: ‘Downward backward Guyana gat a goat, year afta year dem ty om wid de rope, til at las de goat buss de rope and’…….
Cochore Moruka

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