The Government’s stranglehold on the National Toshaos Council Conference

Aug 27, 2024 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo’s recent comments at the People’s Progressive Party Civic’s (PPPC) press conference last Thursday are objectionable. They serve as a stark reminder of how easy it is to distort the purpose and autonomy of institutions meant to represent the people.

The Vice President proclaimed, “If any media house were to be truthful, they would say that the conference [National Toshaos Council Conference (NTCC)] is a great success and that it’s a model of good governance; that it is an unprecedented level of engagement and consultation by a government with a section of its population that cannot be found anywhere in the world where Indigenous people are concerned and we stand strongly on these comments.”

These words, soaked in the self-congratulatory rhetoric typical of those perched high on the echelons of government, are not merely a matter of public relations puffery. They represent a profound misunderstanding—or, more likely, a deliberate mischaracterization—of the NTCC’s very nature.

By branding the NTCC as an exemplary act of government “engagement and consultation by a government with a section of its population”, Jagdeo has, in effect, annexed what should be an independent platform for the Indigenous peoples into a spectacle of government control. His assertion that the conference is a hallmark of good governance is, at best, a misrepresentation; at worst, it is an attempt to co-opt and commandeer the autonomy of the National Toshaos Council Conference.

To truly grasp the depth of this misrepresentation, one must understand the origins and purpose of the NTCC. The NTCC is not, and was never intended to be, a platform for government consultation. It is, by its very conception, a meeting of the Indigenous leaders, a conclave of Toshaos, where they can convene, deliberate, and address issues pertinent to their communities free from external influence. It is supposed to be an autonomous forum, one that exists outside the governmental machinery.

Jagdeo’s comments, however, distort this reality. By framing the NTCC as a government-organized event focused on engagement and consultation, he suggests that the indigenous peoples’ participation is not self-determined but orchestrated by the state. This is more than a mere semantic sleight of hand; it is a deliberate reframing of the relationship between the government and the indigenous communities. It transforms the NTCC from a platform for Indigenous self-determination into an instrument of government policy, reducing the Toshaos to mere attendees in a pageant of governance.

By claiming that the NTCC is a model of good governance, is a paternalistic and patronizing narrative, casting the Toashoas as mere participants in a governmental exercise rather than as leaders of their people.

The Vice President’s statements also betray a troubling implication: that the government’s involvement in the NTCC is not just a matter of support, but of ownership. By framing the conference as a part of the government’s governance efforts, he effectively lays claim to its successes, co-opts its outcomes, and frames any dissenting voices as marginal and unrepresentative of the outcome of the deliberations. This is a classic tactic of control, one that seeks to delegitimize any narrative that does not align with the government’s version of events.

The indigenous leaders of the National Toshaos Council must, therefore, take umbrage with Jagdeo’s comments. To accept his framing of the NTCC is to accept a diminished role for themselves, one that is subservient to the government’s agenda. It is to allow the NTCC to be transformed from an autonomous gathering into a government spectacle, a carefully managed show of “engagement and consultation” designed to showcase the government’s supposed benevolence.

To preserve the integrity and purpose of the NTCC, the National Toshaos Council must reclaim its autonomy. It must assert its right to organise, fund, and manage its own conference, free from government intervention. As long as the NTCC relies on government funding, it remains vulnerable to the wiles and control of those in power. Autonomy is not merely a matter of principle; it is a practical necessity. Without financial independence, the NTCC cannot hope to escape the government’s influence. It cannot hope to speak with an untainted voice, to challenge the government when necessary, and to advocate for the true needs of the indigenous communities.

The National Toshaos Council must, therefore, begin the difficult but essential task of raising its own funds. It must seek support not from the state, but from its people, and from allies who believe in the cause of indigenous self-determination. It must establish a financial base that allows it to operate independently, to host its annual conference without the spectre of government control hanging over it.

The government, for its part, must recognize the limits of its role. It must respect the autonomy of the National Toshaos Council, engaging with it not through the conference but through proper, structured consultations with the Council itself. The NTCC should not be an occasion for the government to claim the mantle of good governance. It should be a time for the Toshaos to lead, to speak, and to be heard—free from the guiding hand of the state.

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

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• institutions, National Toshaos Council Conference (NTCC)., People’s Progressive Party Civic’s (PPPC), Press Conference, stark

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