The circus is back!

Sep 10, 2021 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – The political circus has been reintroduced. Yesterday, it was announced that a 2-day Cabinet Outreach commencing today is going to be held in Region Two.
In a notice yesterday, the Office of the President announced that Cabinet members will lead several teams for direct engagement with residents, women, youth farmers, the religious community and, of course, the private sector representatives. Kicking off the circus will be Region Two, a Region which is so big that it is impossible even with different Ministers visiting different communities, for the entirety of the Region to be effectively covered in two days.
But that is not the intention of Cabinet Outreaches. It is all about the optics.
The spectacle known as Cabinet Outreaches was held under previous PPP/C regimes and was adopted by the APNU+AFC. It effectively means that members of Cabinet go out to a Region and meet with the people and listen to their problems. On the face, these outreaches do not appear to be a bad idea.
However, modern governments do not operate this way. The reason why there are Ministries and Regional Government and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils is for these bodies to be able to solve the problems of the people at the lower level. When the Cabinet has to do this, it reveals systemic deficiencies within the system of public administration.
Unless those systems are fixed so as to allow people to have confidence in their local representatives, Cabinet Outreaches would compound the manner in which government operates at the local level. Unless the government system is fixed, the same old frustrations will continue to be exhibited.
The decision to reintroduce Cabinet Outreaches show how much the PPP/C is short of ideas. It has reverted to a political sideshow rather than seeking to improve the manner in which public services are delivered to the public.
Cabinet outreaches are not effective solutions to solving people’s problems. These problems have to be solved through a more responsive system of government, including local government.
Persons should not have to await the arrival of the Cabinet caravan in order to have their problems fixed. The Cabinet as a collective should not have to go to a Region in order to understand what is happening on the ground.
Today’s Outreach is ill-timed. Someone needs to remind the President that there is a pandemic raging across the country and this is not the time for political circuses.
This is not a time for holding public events. The law in fact prohibits the holding of social events. Yet, the government is engaged in these massive outreaches which will require them to meet members of the public in groups, something which should not be happening when active cases are fast approaching 3,000 and with more than 30 persons in the COVID-ICU Unit.
This is a time of grief in the country. The death toll is mounting each day and hundreds are either sick at home or in institutions. In solidarity with those who have died as a result of the pandemic, the government should have been exercising greater precaution, especially in light of its own regulations which require persons to prove that they are vaccinated before visiting a public place. The hosting of the Cabinet outreaches makes a mockery of the government’s own regulations.
The President and his team should be setting a better example by desisting from attending public events. People will be more inclined to comply with the COVID-19 regulations, if they witness greater responsibility being exercised by the government.
Cabinet outreaches are not an efficient way of gaining political feedback from the public. They are super-expensive exercises which have to be bankrolled by taxpayers. Ministers will either fly up to Region Two or use the ferry service. This means that they will go with their SUVs and four-wheel drive vehicles, along with the usual retinue of press and support staff.
The Region will have to roll out the red-carpet and find dozens of ‘malas’ to garland the dignitaries who will descend on their Region like a heavy downpour. Welcoming parties and all regional vehicles will have to be deployed for the Outreach. The work of the Regional authorities will grind to a halt for two full days.
Tents will have to be hired. Sound systems and chairs rented. And, of course, the Cabinet members must have their belly-full of food. All of which will have to be billed to the government.
The backslappers and ass lickers will be put on notice. And some innocent public official is going to receive a tongue-lashing. It is all about showmanship and spectacle.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)