Leadership crisis

Jan 23, 2025 Editorial, News

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Editorial…

Kaieteur News- Guyana is gearing up for elections and the various parties have confirmed who their presidential candidates will be. Also, in this season of elections, we have just seen Joe Biden riding into the sunset after decades of public service- culminating with being President of the United States.

It is often the case in the more developed countries, where after serving at the highest level, persons move on- taking up advisory posts or open up their library or a foundation to continue the work of strengthening governance and democracy in their country or even around the world. Guyana at the moment is fortunate to have at this time four living former presidents- one of whom served two and a half terms. His name is Bharrat Jagdeo. The long years of being in leadership at the highest level of the land has earned him the moniker- chief fossil.

He has caused enough damage, and he has displayed those worrying qualities that warn thunderously: he is not a fit and proper person, or leader, or contributor where the stewardship of this oil wealth is concerned.  We have lost all confidence that anything that Jagdeo does will result in what is good for Guyanese.  For his friends and handpicked cronies, he will do his best and succeed, but for the rest of Guyanese hoping for something beneficial from this oil sector, Mr. Jagdeo is a lost cause, a precious hope wasted.

Almost every week without fail, we see and hear him taking us through some aspect of the sordid history of this nation. Of course, most times he gives his or his party’s side of the story, only to be picked up by the opposition and other sympathisers who would use the letter pages and other forums to either correct the VP or add their own spin to the never-ending debate. This nation longs for some political freshness, which necessitates the likes of Jagdeo and other within the opposition to do like Biden and ride into the sunset.

But the failure of Jagdeo however, points to the broader problem we face in Guyana- that is political leadership at all levels of the society. Most of our leaders are arrogant, untrustworthy, inefficient and corrupt and more often than not, they behave and act like dictators. Many lack the skill-set required for good governance, accountability and problem solving—qualities that are, for the most part, not endemic in our political culture.

Since the attainment of political independence in May 1966, successive political parties, namely the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the People’s National Congress (PNC) have in their own respective ways perfected the art of practicing divisive politics in order to win elections. Both parties have created a permanent divide among the people along racial lines. But regrettably, they have both failed so far to provide effective governance and despite a marked decrease in political violence over the years, the country is still racially divided. The economy is struggling and efforts to develop and diversify even with the advent of oil have not materialised.

The declared mission of our founding leaders was the acquisition of political independence which has been accomplished, therefore the mission of succeeding generations was to attain economic independence. However, based on the state of the economy today, it is fair to say that the unanimous grade for this generation is an “F.” Sadly, no leader or party has so far been able to say with certitude that they have succeeded in developing and diversifying the economy. If the economy is to make a quantum leap, our leaders must change the way they conduct politics and manage the economy. After more than 50 years of independence, that mission has not been accomplished.

Our political leadership has been transactional, rather than transformative—a term coined by the American sociologist James V Downton to illustrate a marked difference between poor to average and excellent leadership. Transactional leadership focuses on supervision, organization, and performance. It is a peculiar style of leadership in which leaders promote compliance through both rewards and punishments. Transactional leaders do not make changes, they tend to maintain the status quo. This type of leadership is effective in crisis and emergency situations, as well as for projects that need to be carried out in a specific way.

Transformative leadership is one in which leaders lead by example. Transformative leaders are excellent at communicating new ideas, good at balancing short-term and long-term goals, adept at building strong coalitions and establishing mutual trust. Most importantly, they have integrity, are highly intelligent, and they empathize with others.

Transformative leaders tend to use rapport or inspiration to engage followers. They are sincere, honest, accountable, transparent, courageous and confident and are willing to make sacrifices for the greater good of society. They have a mindset to streamline things that no longer work and would change existing thoughts, techniques and goals for better results and the greater good. Transformative leaders motivate workers and maximize their capability and capacity in order to make them productive and decent citizens.

Transformative leaders are needed to develop the economy, improve the living standards of the masses and make Guyana a truly prosperous nation and not one that is embedded in a culture of corruption, crime and dependency. Our current leaders are led, they do not lead. Regardless of their partisan ilk, they should revisit the life and work of those who had the foresight to admonish us about achieving economic independence.

 ( Leadership crisis)

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• Democracy, developed countries, Elections, governance, Joe Biden, presidential candidates

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