Absolute power is a danger to any government

Jul 11, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Administrative czars and pit bulls emerged within the second layers of the PPP government. These persons held high positions on Boards of government corporations and used their positions to lord over legitimate administrators and the entities their represented.
There is no need to go into name calling because the public knows about the tyrants that were untouchable and who wielded tremendous power of the entities they headed.
Power was abused in many instances. The space reserved for executives were trampled upon by these powerful figures. The management became subservient to Boards in many instances rather than working to achieve the policies of their Boards.
The APNU+AFC has to be careful that it does go down the same road as the PPP. There are some known individuals, at the moment, who are exercising power in this country and whose actions are going to embarrass the David Granger administration unless action is taken to clearly demarcate the divisions between policy-making and policy implementation.
Government corporations are headed by Boards. These Boards are appointed by the government. They are government Boards. They pursue the policy objectives of the government. They are not supposed to be involved in the day-to-day administration of their corporations.
In the private sector, owners appoint Board of Directors to secure their interests. The members of Boards, in this case, represent the owners of the corporation. They do not run the corporations. They appoint managers to manage the corporations; they Board is advised by the management and based on this advice they set the policies and approve the targets and dividends to be paid.
Boards of state-owned enterprises are no different. State-owned Boards carry out the policies of the government. They are supposed to be insulated from political interference. The Boards in turn, do not intrude into the management function of their corporations.
The Boards of Directors are usually headed by a Chairperson. The articles of association of the Boards usually indicate how the Chairpersons of the Boards are appointed but it is always best to allow the Board itself to select their own Chairpersons.
This is the mistake that most governments make. They opt, when appointing Boards to appoint the Chairs of those Boards.
This turns the position of Chair into a super-position because the perception is created that this person is the government’s point person. The risk in this is that people so view the Chair and the person becomes not just the head of the Board but the embodiment of the Board.
That person is seen being allowed to wield power, individually, rather than collectively with the Board, over the other management. This is usually the starting point of abuse of authority.
The Chairman of the Board merely chairs meetings. The Chair should not have a super vote in which regardless of what other people think. Boards should be run around democratic principles.
The Chair is but one member of the Board. The Chair’s power is equal and influence over the Board should be equal to that of every other member The Chair should neither dominate nor marginalize the other Board members. Things should not be done, in the name of the Board, behind the backs of the other members of the Board.
The Board is the interface between the owners and the management. The Board is not supposed to be involved in making decisions which fall within the responsibility of the Board.
The Articles of Association of some Boards do ascribe the appointment and dismissal of certain levels of mangers. This should only be for top- level positions since anything otherwise would render the Board as an arm of the Personnel of Human Resource Department.
The role of the Board in the case of dismissals is not to play judge, jury and executioner. The powers of appointments and dismissals should only be for top level positions and should follow due process.
These things are today considered elementary. But given the abuse that took place in the past, the government should remind itself and its various Boards of the differences between policy-making and policy implementation. It should also ensure the non- interference by Boards and Board officials, in the day-to-day management of the corporation.
The downfall of many governments has been executive lawlessness. Some persons feel that they have licences to do as they please because power has been concentrated in their hands.
Executive lawlessness has its roots in absolute power. APNU+AFC must avoid this syndrome.
To be continued

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