NDC chairmen ain’t governors

Aug 08, 2026 Dem Boys Seh, Features / Columnists

(Kaieteur News) – Dem boys seh some persons in this country got a strange idea about democracy. Once dem get elected chairman of a Neighbourhood Democratic Council, some of dem suddenly feel like dem get a crown, a sceptre and a royal decree giving dem sovereignty over every road, drain, bridge and pothole in the neighbourhood.

But leh we clear up one small matter. NDC chairmen are not governors.

Dem boys seh an NDC chairman is chairman because he or she chairs the meetings of the Neighbourhood Democratic Council. That is the job. Chair the meetings. Preside over the council. Help administer the affairs of the NDC within the powers given by law.

It does not mean that when the chairman step onto a roadway, the roadway automatically become Buckingham Palace.

And it certainly does not mean that the chairman has some mysterious immunity from being removed from a particular place within the NDC.

Dem boys seh Guyana apparently developing a new constitutional doctrine: once yuh become chairman, if somebody tell yuh move, yuh could declare, “But I is the chairman!”

Well, dem boys seh, chairman of what? The road?

There is no law that says an NDC chairman cannot be removed from any part of the area administered by the NDC. The fact that a person holds elected office does not transform him into a territorial monarch. The office gives responsibilities and powers prescribed by law; it does not give the holder a personal force field.

Dem boys seh some people mixing up authority with immunity. A policeman could exercise lawful authority, but he ain’t immune from being moved. A member of parliament could represent a constituency, but he ain’t immune from being told to clear a roadway. And an NDC chairman could chair an NDC meeting without acquiring diplomatic status.

Imagine if every elected official enjoyed immunity from being removed from any place within his jurisdiction. A Minister could claim the same. A councilor could plant himself in the middle of a bridge and declare it a council meeting. Soon, Guyana would have traffic jams consisting entirely of elected officials exercising their “constitutional rights.”

Dem boys seh democracy does not mean “I get elected; therefore, I cannot be removed from standing anywhere I want.” It means the opposite: public office comes with public responsibility—and sometimes that responsibility includes knowing when to move.

Talk half. Leff half.

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Dem Boys Seh, Democracy, NDC, NDC chairmen

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