Latest update August 24th, 2026 10:25 AM
Latest News
- Grief, protests, and a G$1.4B abandoned wharf
- ‘Guyana is the place to be, world class mining area’ – new Australian gold firm
- Exxon shuts down operations on Liza Unity after small fire in laundry room
- ‘I know he’s dead’ – mother accepts loss of missing MV Barima crewman
- Chinese Landing residents hold firm in Tassawini standoff
TELLING THE TRUTH MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE
It is time for the government to end its secrecy and untruths. Like most people in society, Ministers in the government need to subscribe to, and adopt, the simple but very important doctrine of truth-telling. It requires them to tell the truth and nothing but the truth in order to save the government from embarrassment.
Truth-telling, in this regard, is significantly different from hiding behind the great bulwarks of legalism. Perhaps the political fallout and discredit of the government for the 50 percent salary increases for Ministers and the appointment of a businessman as a Business Advisor to the government would have been considerably different had the truth been told.
The saying that telling the truth “shall set you free” is true. But by not telling the truth, Ministers are most likely to cause disgrace and dishonour not only to themselves but also to the government and this could be politically harmful to the regime. The degree of difficulty and lack of integrity increases when the truth is not told by public officials. The strategy of getting out harmful and embarrassing information as quickly as possible seems not to be the rationale of the government.
Ministers and other public officials should realize that they cannot fool the people all the time, especially Journalists who have prodigious common sense. They will apply their critical thinking and analytic skills in their endeavour to ask the right questions, however unpleasant those questions may appear.
Nonetheless, a full and quick disclosure of the facts, good or bad, kills the potential for a story spiraling out of control and preventing it from making the headlines. It also diminishes the prospects for unwarranted skepticism, removes or lessens the possibility for sensationalism and guarantees that it is the news that gets reported and not a reporter’s opinion or judgement on a particular issue.
Telling the truth and telling it early can be both pre-emptive and proactive. This is so because it could deprive the opposition from upstaging and attacking those involved.
Telling the truth and telling it early have the distinct advantage of staving off political opponents as well as preventing the scandal-hungry media from embellishing humiliating stories for the sake of ratings. All that a politician needs to do is to tell the truth and provide evidence or documents that corroborate his/her revelation, and then make himself or herself available to the media for further questioning. After all, “the early bird catches the most worms.”
They should point out to the media any negative information they might have missed during their perusal. The overarching objective of this approach is to ensure that the media is adequately supplied with information, however trivial its nature or value.
Telling the truth is intuitive. It is always easier to tell the truth because foundations on which relationships, vision, aspirations and hope are built must be undergirded by unshakeable pillars of integrity and honesty; otherwise they could tumble down. Further, truth-telling prevents one from being embarrassed because, unlike untruths and half-truths, one does not have to remember the truth as one would for lies.
Telling the truth goes beyond removing lingering doubts, it helps to restore believability and improve trust and maintain credibility. The government should have instantly told the public about the appointment of the Business Development Advisor to the government which took place since January 19, 2016. And for the Minister to say that his appointment was an “honorific” title two months after the appointment is unbelievable. It is a poor excuse for not telling the truth.
Ministers continue to make mistakes and not one has been sanctioned, which suggests that the government has not learned from the mistakes of the PPP. It has abandoned most of its core supporters at home and in the diaspora and has surrounded itself with controversial and non-descriptive characters.
A wise person once said, “One plus one does not always equal two; sometimes it equals an idea, but it is understanding the complexities of that idea that makes the difference.” Telling the truth makes a huge difference.
Share this:
Discover more from Kaieteur News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.