THE PEOPLE MUST COME TO THE DEFENSE OF THE MEDIA

Oct 20, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

When free and fair elections were restored to Guyana in 1992, the hierarchy of the Guyana Police Force was worried. Many of the top officers were uncertain as to what was to be expected of them under the new dispensation.
The then Commissioner of Police, Laurie Lewis, told them that they should act professionally and that once they did so they had nothing to fear. Now acting professionally was not a straightforward proposition at the time, especially for a Police Force that was notorious for being used for political purposes.
However, Laurie Lewis told his senior officers that once they were professional, they would not have to be worried about their future. In other words he was telling them that once henceforth they acted professionally, they had nothing to fear.
There are many persons in Guyana who need to be reminded of the need for professionalism in public office because today it seems that Guyana is reverting back to the past when public officials were asked to undertake political vendettas on behalf of politicians.
It is necessary to remind public officials that they are duty bound to be professional and should not be pursuing political vendettas on behalf of any government official past or present.
What does it mean to be professional? It means that you do not compromise what is expected of you. You should not as a professional sacrifice ethical considerations so as to satisfy your political masters. You should insulate yourself from becoming a political football.
If you find that you are being asked to do something that you consider as unprofessional, then it is your duty to refuse to do so regardless of the consequences.
Many professionals today fear that if they refuse the directives of their political masters, they would be fired. In fact, the opposite is true. If they act unprofessionally they are more likely to be fired because they would have no defense. The professional can choose to resign rather than be used as a political football.
The need to act professionally is not just confined to public officials. Indeed, it is the responsibility of the politicians to ensure that public officials act professionally at all times.
If I am senior political operative and I am a recipient of correspondence from a public official and the contents of that correspondence indicates that there is unprofessional conduct being exhibited by the sender of that correspondence, what should be my reply?
If I am senior political figure and I detect unprofessional conduct and indeed, even illegal conduct, then it is my duty to indicate to the recipient that either he or she is on the wrong side of the law or is being unprofessional. That public official should be cautioned and told to desist from either the unprofessional of illegal course of action. Failure to so caution the public official constitutes negligence. The sender of the correspondence can interpret the absence of such a caution as a form of support for his or unprofessional or unlawful conduct. Unless that caution is forthcoming and issued immediately, then the public official may feel that both he and the political operative are in the thing together, whatever is the thing.
Finally, it is the duty of media to act as watchdog against the lack of professionalism. It is the duty of the media to expose the wrongdoings of public officials and to advocate for sanctions to be imposed upon them for conduct unbecoming of public officials.
And if the media itself should become the victims of unprofessional conduct, then it is for the people to come to the defense of the media. Today, Kaieteur News is under attack. It is under attack because it has dared to expose unprofessional conduct and abuse of public office. Public office is now at the center of an orchestrated campaign to destroy this media house.
If the people do not come to the rescue of Kaieteur News, there is only one option left available and that would be to close the newspaper down.
If this happens, God help the poor people of this country!

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