Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 13, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists
It is time for the government to end its secrecy. Like most people in society, ministers in any government need to subscribe to, and adopt, the simple but very important doctrine of truth-telling. It requires them to tell the truth and nothing but the truth in order to save the government from discomfiture.
Truth-telling, in this regard, is significantly different from hiding behind the great bulwarks of legalism. Perhaps the fallout from recent perceived indiscretions would have been considerably different had the truth been told.
The saying that telling the truth “shall set you free” has time and again proven to be true. But by not telling the truth or being forthright, any such minister is most likely to cause disgrace and dishonor not only to themselves but also to the government. The degree of difficulty and lack of integrity increases when the truth is not told by public officials. The strategy of getting out harmful and embarrassing information as quickly as possible seems not to be the rationale of the government.
Ministers and other important public officials should realize that they cannot fool the people all the time, especially those who possess prodigious common sense. Journalists, for example, will apply their critical thinking and analytic skills in their endeavour to ask the right questions, however unpleasant those queries may appear.
Nonetheless, a full and quick disclosure of the facts, good or bad, kills the potential for a story spiraling out of control and prevents it from making the headlines. It also diminishes the prospects for unwarranted skepticism, removes or lessens the possibility for sensationalism and guarantees that it is the news that gets reported and not a reporter’s opinion or judgement on a particular issue.
Telling the truth and telling it early can be both pre-emptive and proactive. This is so because it could deprive the opposition from upstaging and attacking those involved. All that one needs to do is to tell the truth and provide evidence or documents that corroborate his/her revelation, and then make himself or herself available for further questioning. After all, “the early bird catches the worm.”
In the case of government officials, they should point out to the media any negative information they might have missed during their perusal. The overarching objective of this approach is to ensure that the media is adequately supplied with information, however trivial its nature or value. Telling the truth is intuitive. It is always easier to tell the truth because foundations on which relationships, vision, aspirations and hope are built must be undergirded by unshakeable pillars of integrity and honesty; otherwise they could tumble down. Further, truth-telling prevents one from being embarrassed because, unlike untruths and half-truths, one does not have to remember the truth as one would for lies.
Telling the truth goes beyond removing lingering doubts, it helps to restore believability and improve trust and maintain credibility. A prime example of this, is that the public should have immediately been told about the appointment of the business development advisor to the Minister of State which took place since January 19, 2016. And for the Minister to describe the appointment as an “honorific” title two months after the appointment is a head-scratcher.
We are not sure that the current government has learned from the mistakes of its predecessor. It has abandoned its honourable campaign status for a clandestine approach to issues of national importance. A wise person once said, “One plus one does not always equal two; sometimes it equals an idea, but it is understanding the complexities of that idea that makes the difference.” Telling the truth makes a huge difference.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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