Citizens need to put those who hold high positions under greater pressure to perform

Apr 15, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur New – GHK Lall, in his letter in SN and KN of 13th April (KN: “We should aim for transformational citizenry before we call for transformational leadership”) has raised a matter of such vital importance that it warrants everyone’s attention. Focusing on the political sphere, Lall argues that because followers (meaning, almost all of us) exert no pressure on those who lead us, there is neither “reason nor incentive to change one damn thing about what is delivered, and the way, things are done.” He blames us for this leadership arrogance and non-performance because we are – in his terms – deaf, empty-headed, blind, and mindless. He concludes that to transform leaders, we must first transform ourselves.
Lall is onto something. I would however expand and refine his position in two significant ways. I would expand on it by pointing out that the nexus between a passive population and failed leadership affects not only political parties but also a host of other entities. Secondly, I would refine Lall’s position by suggesting that his harsh criticisms of followers or supporters miss a key explanatory factor.
First, to expand Lall’s position, the leadership incompetence, which he describes, infuses organisations of all sizes and mandates in Guyana, not only political parties. Public agencies, the private sector, local councils, social organisations, and civil society groupings also suffer from this malaise. Blame therefore should not be limited to party supporters but should extend to the much wider Guyanese citizenry. We all now mostly accept as a norm the non-performance of those who hold high positions of formal responsibility across the entire society.
Secondly, to refine Lall’s claim. His criticism of party supporters as blind, mindless, and empty-headed misses a key factor. That factor is trust—the trust of supporters in their leaders. This matter goes to the heart of any representative arrangement. In this arrangement, followers elect a few among themselves to be their reps or leaders. These few then devote their attention and efforts to the rigors and demands of leading, while the rest of us go about our regular daily lives. Naturally, followers assume that their leaders know more and know best. So, for example, in the intensely contested aftermath of the 2020 election, I trusted the leaders of my party because I saw them as being in the best position to know and decide. That is the essence of representation. Followers place faith in their leaders out of sheer necessity. Lall is wrong to include such instances of trust as mindless.
But I share Lall’s general thesis that we the citizens (including as a special case, supporters of political parties) need to put those who hold high positions of formal responsibility and authority under greater pressure to perform.

Yours truly,
Sherwood Lowe

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