CHANGE IS INEVITABLE

Jun 28, 2015 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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Whether it is the advent of a new government or new management for a privately-held company, change is inevitable to address current problems and to remove the elements most contributable to the circumstances that led to the need for change in the first place.
Change in and of itself is a continuous process that is subject to constant evaluation.  The change agent, in this case the recently elected APNU+AFC Coalition, is in the process of implementing strategies to improve productivity and enhance the quality, direction and performance of the Public Service. Continuous evaluation of these new strategies then becomes critical to ensuring that the services received by the people of Guyana remain affordable and accessible.
There is no shortcut to good public service.  A sound management strategy ensures that every element in every department of government must be assessed to determine its purposes and effectiveness, and then re-shaped to ensure that each department functions at optimum capacity.
“Governance and diffusion of political power (read decentralization) in particular remain critical pillars for effecting changes in the public sector.  The Guiding Principles for process change are centered on politics, systems, coalitions, culture and communication.”  – Margaret Chemingich.
Even prior to the 2015 general elections, the Coalition had emphatically stated that there is a crying need to inject life into our mismanaged, decaying public service in order to lift this nation out of its stagnation and make it attractive to investors, home-grown or foreign. The Coalition’s unified prescription was and still is to eradicate entrenched cronyism, nepotism and favouritism which together had literally drained our treasury.  The previous government’s mismanagement had blocked real development, and that led to spiraling crime, high costs for every consumable and service et al which scared investors away.
This new government’s main priorities are embedded in prudent monetary and fiscal administration and strict accountability, while eliminating waste and extravagance.  It also bears repeating that the administration intends to sustain zero tolerance for corruption of any hue.
We could now place the foregoing in the context of the PPP/C’s constant accusations of political witch-hunting. This term has its genesis in the witch-hunts in 17th-century Salem, Massachusetts, where many innocent women who were accused of witchcraft were burned at the stake or drowned.
The Collins Complete and Unabridged English Dictionary defines a political witch-hunt as the searching out and harassment of dissenters, or unscrupulously accusing people of disloyalty. Taegan Goddard’s Political Dictionary defines the term as a politically-motivated, often vindictive investigation that feeds on public fears.
The fact is the opposite is true.  The administration is being as scrupulous as it could to ensure that the public servants that Guyana deserves are qualified and committed to delivering a people-oriented service across the board. They are required to be respectful without exception. They each should have a personal/professional history that could not be impugned by accusations of theft of the nation’s financial resources, gross incompetence, mismanagement of projects and project funds, or of receiving salaries from the national coffers under false pretence, i.e. for working against the state instead of for it.
In addition, the Laws governing the public sector in Guyana outline the precepts regarding the direct involvement of any public servant in political campaigns.  Among other things, they are required to officially resign their positions which, for those who did prior to the 2015 General Elections, signaled their personal preference that was deemed to have taken priority over their jobs, over their responsibilities to the public.
Vindictiveness and harassment as defined by the dictionaries do not factor into the Guyana equation.  The intent of the Coalition could not be clearer, i.e. to mould a cadre of committed public servants whose primary responsibility is to deliver the best service irrespective of political affiliation or affinity.
There are quite a number of people who currently hold high offices in the public sector who are still active members of the PPP/C. They chose to retain their professional integrity over the years.  This is the sum of what the Coalition government requires from any public servant.  Now the focus has been placed on rebuilding and strengthening the capacity of the public service, creating an enabling environment that encourages our qualified and institutional skills to remain here to re-build this nation, to improve the quality of their own lives and pursue higher education.
Over the past two decades, Guyana had been reeling from the effects of a crippling loss of both experienced and newly graduated skills.  The long-running “brain drain” is one explanation for Guyana’s previous failure to prosper, even with the plethora of natural wealth on land and undersea.
Now the Coalition government has launched a sustained come-back from mediocrity with an all-encompassing programme, beginning with a revamp of the entire Education system.  The short-term goals are to create our own skill pool for the production sectors and to raise the levels of literacy and numeracy, especially among youths and women.  Guyana will be made whole and relevant again.
Just recently the Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl B. Greenidge was heard lamenting the dearth of skills in the Guyanese Diplomatic Corps, the absence of qualified and distinguished career diplomats who could adequately represent Guyana’s interests in our overseas missions. He floated the idea of recruiting representatives from the diaspora while young would-be diplomats would enter a sustained intensive training programme at home and abroad.
We recall the pre-1992 era when Guyanese were so highly regarded on the international stage that some were courted to take up lofty positions in the World Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the United Nations, the Organization of American States and other global institutions.
They all contributed to raising and sustaining Guyana’s global profile over several decades through intense networking combined with their charm, wit, tact, impressive command of the English language and deep knowledge of world affairs. These men and women maneouvred our young nation into a position that commanded the respect of the world.  Today 20 years on, Guyana is known only for the role it plays in the global drug trade and the hard-to-explain high rate of crime per capita.
This nation state will only move forward with a reclaimed reputation for moulding people of high intellect and personal and professional integrity.

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