You cannot expect professional work from political cronies

Jun 11, 2015 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
The new government is on record as stating that it will not be adopting a posture of witch-hunting of persons in the public service.
Witch-hunting is the “searching out and deliberate harassment of those (as political opponents) with unpopular views.” However, we should not blur the lines with the cleansing of the public service of political cronies that are not professionals and experts. Cronyism is the “appointment of political hangers-on to office without regard to their qualifications.”
Many known political cronies were hired in the public service by the former government as part of an organised operation in various state agencies and ministries to ensure public servants’ obedience and discipline to the former government and its policy directives as a form of intimidation, shut-out dissenting opinions towards the former government, constraining the professional growth of public servants with contract workers and attacking and shutting out political opposition.
These political cronies’ appointment significantly de-professionalised the public service and disenfranchised many professional Guyanese of work, and that compounded the brain drain trend.
Further, the appointment of political cronies would have led to the under-performance of the public service of meeting the needs of citizens effectively, with an unhealthy environment for public servants to thrive resulting in the lack of upward mobility and promotions and the demoralisation of employees who should focus on policy matters rather than political shenanigans.
President David Granger has stated that he wants a professional public service and has taken steps to this end. Which brings me to the debate on removal of political cronies of the former government from the public service.
The restoration of the image and integrity of the public service starts with the removal of political cronies who have compromised the system to the peril of professional standards and ethics. Their removal will restore public trust and confidence in the system and the dignity and credibility of public servants. This must be complemented with a sound policy and commitment by the government of continuous on-the-job training for public servants, improving the physical working environment with the necessary tools for required work and better remuneration and emoluments. I see no witch-hunting in this.
The coalition has won the elections and it has a political mandate to fulfill. It would be absurd for the David Granger-led administration to invest full trust in a system compromised with political cronyism and nepotism, with personnel strategically placed by the former government, to move forward policies. His administration will be greeted with policy derailment and sabotage, insubordination and contempt, and limited to no movement of work. His administration will be hamstrung and blackmailed because of the lack of professional employees to respect and follow through government policy directives. President Granger’s administration, and as a matter of fact all governments, require a professional public service.
A return of a fully professional public service also means a return of the public servants right to breathe free air to express their views and grievances on the job. The death knell of the practice of contract employment and a return to full employment of all public servants under the rules of the public service is urgent. This is to remove the threat of arbitrary sanction and discipline of workers based on trumped-up cases and using dismissal and termination clauses in one’s contract than employers’ application of public service rules that is worker-friendly for redress and complaints.
Contract employment, as a mechanism of hiring political cronies, has also emasculated the public services of professional growth, with discriminatory hiring of persons at whim and favouritism rather than on a credible procedural process that brings dignity and buttresses a trustworthy image of the body politic.
Contract employment has also destabilized the performance of many state agencies with the prerogative payment of income tax and national insurance by some contract workers. While we must not continue to burden the working class with taxes, we cannot allow some to escape their responsibility of paying taxes to meet national needs.
The abysmal state of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is compounded by tax evasion and a system where some government contract employees do not make their contributions. Contract employment, in other words, has created a national systemic conundrum. Significantly, contract employment by the former government was a conduit for the hiring of political cronies. It was their entrance into the public service through the back door.
A professional public service is paramount. Governments come and go, but the public service always remains as the engine that operationalises the state machinery – from NICIL to GuySuCo, to the many government Ministries and Agencies – be it the police force and the military, customs and immigration, and schools and hospitals. In other word, public servants as professionals should be ready to work diligently and respectfully with any political party that forms a government.
To conclude, the appointments of political cronies over time has contributed to a bloated public service, a burden on the public purse, a politicised professional environment, an underperformance of the public service to meet the public good, and a demoralisation of public servants. Their ill conduct has significantly contributed to official malfeasance and corruption.
You cannot expect professional work from political cronies. Thus, these political cronies or square pegs in round holes have got to go!
Jermaine Grant

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