GOVERNMENT-CUSTODIAN OF SOCIETAL VALUES

Oct 07, 2015 Editorial

Guyana has a new government but the challenges facing the nation remain. There is a lot for the new government to grapple with economically, socially, politically and institutionally. However, the most difficult challenges are the economy, crime and the enormous social ills that could cripple the nation.
As GUYSUCO continues its decline and as the rice, bauxite and gold industries face uncertainty, the economy is likely to collapse if the government does not seek help from qualified persons in the diaspora to bring it back to life. Similarly, as the murder rate spike and armed robberies and rape increase and society becomes hopeless, the government will realize that it will be difficult to overcome these challenges.
The fact that the people turn to the police to stop the vicious killings and armed robberies is only to be expected since the police are employed to keep them safe. But there are too many victims of violent crime who believe that the police are part of the violence because of their bad experience with the police.
It is the negative conditioning of police and the perennial problem of corrupt and rogue officers that have caused some of them to react hostile to the public, who they should serve and protect. Almost every police division in every region of the country faces that problem since its officers are members of society, with all its imperfections.
However, successful policing is about public trust, and this is a major problem for the police. That the public is suspicious of the police is obvious. It may be a matter of perception but the truth often is irrelevant to the public, depending on who said it.
That said, the police are over-burdened by the slow pace of judicial trials but they contribute to it by their own inefficiencies. They may not be responsible for preventing murders, but they are charged with solving them and they continue to fail at that, for whatever convoluted reasons.
There is a pattern which shows that a large percent of murder victims had a previous connection with crime. But this is not enough to reduce the murder rate. Among the current unwanted increase in violent crime is the incidence of domestic violence.
Identifying domestic violence as a social disease and placing the blame on the people should not exonerate the government. Domestic violence is perhaps the easiest of the challenges to overcome, since it is about how people are socialized in society and how society can change their mindset to tackle the human frailties that cause violence against the weakest.
It is true that domestic violence occurs behind closed doors but it is not only so. Also, it is not only physical, it is often emotional and all the parties involved are usually hurt by it. The need for some to violate others often springs from some shame or pain or some wrong suffered. Victims of domestic violence suffer silently. Very few share their problems with others. Government has a role but it is the responsibility of every citizen in Guyana to be better guardians of the human spirit. This is the challenge all must confront.
In addition to crime and the economy, the other major issue facing the nation is good governance which requires effective, transformative leadership. That there is a crisis of leadership of gigantic proportions is to state the obvious.
What might not be so obvious is the insidious depth of public vices, malaise and torment that exist in immoral leadership. Apart from its legal function of enacting laws, government also has a moral function to help shape the minds of the next generation.
Government actions subtly shape how citizens think, speak, act and influence national outcomes and conduct. Government is the prime custodian of the values of society.

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