The President was right

Sep 15, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The President was 100% correct when in response to questions about the Commission of Inquiry into the investigation of the allegations of plot against his person, he said that it was important that the Office of the Presidency is protected regardless of who is the President. The President was correct in asserting that the integrity of the office which he holds has to be protected.
The presidency has to be protected against any nefarious plot to harm the office holder physically as well as to harm the image of the office. The President has to take action, at all times, to protect the reputation of the office which he holds.
He has to protect it from physical attacks. He has to also protect it from being brought into disrepute by those around him.
The President cannot afford to have around him persons who are likely to cause the standing of his office to be diminished in the eyes of the public because of their personal conduct. He has to ensure that public confidence in his office is not reduced by the character and actions of the persons who surround him.
The Office of the President is different from office holder. There will always be political differences with whoever is President. President Granger will always have his detractors. But the office he holds should at all times be protected from being brought into disrepute. And this is what the President said he was trying to do by appointing a Commission of Inquiry into the investigation of an alleged plot to assassinate him. He was ensuring that the office was protected.
The President has to protect his office by ensuring that he has persons of integrity and good character around him. He has to ensure that those around him understand fully that they are not just public officials but are representing the highest office in the land and therefore have to exhibit the highest standards of moral rectitude.
The President has ensure that he undertakes character assessments of those who work for him. He must ensure not only that they are qualified and experienced for the job but that the share the values which he expects of his presidency.
A ruckus has broken out over comments which were allegedly made by a press officer to the President on social media. The comments were obnoxious and offensive. Since the person who allegedly made these comments works for the President, it obviously has implications for the credibility of the presidency. It is no longer a private matter.
The President has done the right thing and has distanced himself from the allegations. Reports in the media indicate that an investigation has been launched. But what is this investigation about? Is it to verify the authenticity of the screenshot which was made public?

One online new source has reported that the person at the centre of the controversy did apologize to the staff. This would tend to suggest that there was an admission that the statements were indeed made.
If there is no disputing that the snapshot did reflect the exchanges on a social media platform, then there is no need for an investigation. Is there? The truthfulness of the comments is not being questioned. The implications are.
An investigation seeks to determine the facts but in this instance the facts have not, at least not as yet, been questioned. If the facts are not being questioned, then instead of an investigation what is needed is a different type of determination. It has to be determined whether the comments were racially derogatory.
So who will make this determination? Is an independent team going to be established or will someone be appointed simply to give its opinion of the matter.
Someone ‘fit and proper’, a jurist perhaps should be asked to determine whether the comments constituted a ‘racial slur’ as it is being referred to in the media and to make recommendations as to what action should be taken.
The President should take no chances when it comes to the reputation of his office. He should demand the highest conduct from those around him, both in their public and private lives. He should ensure that this matter is not swept under the carpet because this will diminish his office in the eyes of the public.
He should be reminded of something that Mahatma Gandhi once said. The Mahatma said, “A man is the product of his thoughts; what he thinks he becomes.”

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One thought on “The President was right”

Gtloyal September 15, 2017 at 7:43 am

“The Mahatma said, ‘A man is the product of his thoughts; what he thinks he becomes’.”
Well, talking about race, I now understand why a certain public figure some time ago confessed in Miami that he has become the same as the race he constantly “cusses down”.

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