THE APPOINTED OFFICERS ARE THE COUNTERBALANCE IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM

May 07, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

There is a need for an understanding of the local government system and how it was designed to function. The failure of understanding of the system has led to many problems which need not have got out of hand.
Take for example, the present situation between the acting Town Clerk of Georgetown and her municipality. The two sides are at loggerheads. The incumbent acting Town Clerk is not the first Town Clerk to have been at odds with the Council. Almost every Town Clerk since the present Council was elected has had problems with the elected body.
At the heart of these problems is a lack of understanding of the relationship that the Council should have with its officers. These officers are not responsible to the Council. They are officers of the Ministry of Local Government and they are there specifically to ensure that the Council acts in accordance with national policy as decided on by Central Government.
This problem of local government councils, including Regional Democratic Councils, is that they believe that the officers appointed by the Ministry of Local Government are accountable to them and are there to do as they say.
They are not. And this is at the heart of the problems. Even some members of parliament seem not to appreciate how the system of local government is structured. And the lack of understanding and appreciation of this balance is undermining relations between elected councilors and appointed officials.
The system is so designed to ensure that there is a balancing of responsibilities between Central Government and the local government. Guyana does not have a federal system of government. Many of the Regions and municipalities which are dominated by the Opposition parties want to have total control over their operations, but they do not wish to push for the very system that will given them such authority.
They do not want federalism. They desire the same system that is in place. But they want appointed officials to do as they say without regard to the wishes of the government.
There is a good reason why the present system was designed the way it is. The purpose of local government is to devolve greater responsibilities to the local level. This is based on the assumption that the development of local communities would be had, if administered at the local level rather than from central direction.
In such a system it is however necessary to guard against parallel forms of government emerging that would undertake measures contrary to national policy. It is to avoid this situation that the system was designed to ensure a balance between devolution and compliance with national policy.
To secure this equilibrium, the elected councils are counterbalanced by the statutory officers who are obligated to report to central government and to ensure that nothing is done that is outside of the laws of the country or contrary to the policies of the government.
This is the system that was patterned after local government systems elsewhere in Westminster jurisdictions and Forbes Burnham, the architect of the system, wanted it that way so as to ensure that the wishes of the center are not dispensed with at the whims and fancy of any local organ.
If the Opposition and certain municipalities cannot live with the idea of this balance between the center and local government, then they should join the bandwagon and call for a federal solution to Guyana. But they cannot be demanding that appointed officials be answerable to the Council.
If the system is to work, there is obviously a need for civility and cooperation between the appointed officers and their respective councils but it must never be assumed. This cooperation cannot come at the expense of these appointed officers disregarding official government policy and directives. These officers cannot be reduced to being employees or servants of the Council more so when these orders are in conflict with central government policies.
Having a balance between central and local government is also necessary for accountability and transparency. If it were absent then an important check and balance would be removed.
If the rationale and nature of the system is understood it will make it easier for everyone concerned to understand their respective roles and how each relates to the other. Once these roles are acknowledged and respected, they will avoid the problems and controversies that are now raging.

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