INTEGRITY

Jun 23, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists

In Guyana, the behaviour or conduct by some in authority shows that they have very little integrity, which is defined as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles and moral uprightness.” It is the adherence to a code of moral or artistic values, which eliminates any association with corruption or bribery in any form. It is generally a personal choice to hold oneself to consistent moral and ethical standards.
According to Wikipedia, the word integrity evolved from the Latin adjective “integer” which means whole or complete. It is also stated that in ethics, integrity is regarded by many people as the honesty, truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions. Integrity is said to be consistent with virtue. In this context, integrity is described as the inner sense of wholeness deriving from qualities such as honesty and good character. As such, one may have integrity to the extent that he/she acts according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold.
Integrity is important for our politicians because they are chosen, appointed or elected to serve us in society. We elect them and in so doing, we have given them power and have placed them in positions to make and execute decisions or control policy. They have the power to influence something or someone. However, some have used this power to achieve personal gains rather than to serve the people who elected them.
It is expected that those in whom authority is vested should be guided by the accepted norms of the society, defined principles, standards, rules and regulations and the law of the land.Although Guyana is not a utopia or a perfect place, still much is expected of those who assume political leadership roles in society. The same can be said for persons in the business sector or leaders of our communities.
That said, all persons, regardless of whether or not they assume a leadership role in society are expected to have misgivings. However, dishonesty is one thing that should not be practiced by our leaders or anyone else. It cuts across all streams of society and is not limited to cheating, stealing or committing fraudulent acts, but extends to telling lies, misleading, deceiving, and even being a traitor to others.
The integrity of our leaders should always be scrutinized when those whom they lead have doubts about their credibility. This is based strictly on their actions and misgivings and on how they present and portray themselves to the general public. The perceptions they lead people to have of them should not be different from what they communicate to their constituents and the various members of public or what they do.
There should be no sympathy for those leaders who knowingly undertake to walk the path of dishonesty or to act without reason, fair play, respect for rules, law and order, or care about the pain and agony they inflict on others. Basically, those are selfish, egocentric and dishonest leaders who sometimes are more concerned about being a popular spectacle or, moreover, getting what they can for themselves, and at any cost.
It is at this point that one can say that they have no integrity or that integrity fails to have meaning, because they have simply thrown it out of the window and are overtaken by selfishness, greed and corruption. It is absurd to think that our elected politicians would be so disdainful to the nation to put their self-interests over and above the interests of the people. It is even worse when they abuse their positions because of the power vested in them or just simply refusing to follow procedures or misusing their authority in more ways than one.
It is no secret that many believe that many of our politicians are corrupt and that they have little or no integrity.