A presidential display of “Project Management”

Nov 13, 2024 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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…Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News- So, there I was, blissfully dreaming about cappuccinos and tropical sunsets, when I heard about the President’s meeting. Let me clarify: this was not just any meeting. It was the mother of all meetings—the kind where alarms went off, egos were trampled, and professionals were grilled as if they’d wandered into an unholy inquisition.

At the crack of dawn, while the rest of the world was blissfully unaware of its existence, the President summoned his ministers, permanent secretaries, engineers, consultants and contractors working on government projects that were believed to be behind schedule by more than four months. For reasons best understood by folks who wear sunglasses at night, the meeting was called at 5:30 AM, an hour when most human beings are engaged in the very responsible activity of sleep.

Top government officials, including Ministers, bleary-eyed and clutching coffee like lifebuoys, had to drag themselves to State House before the sun had fully clocked in. It was like a poorly scripted sitcom, but the laugh track was missing, replaced instead by the President’s unrelenting, baritone scolding, his audience recoiling at the spreadsheet he wielded like a scroll of doom.

If you tuned in expecting nuanced dialogue or constructive problem-solving, then you must be new to Guyanese politics. This was no ordinary status report. This was the Head of State’s moment to shine, a chance to remind everyone that nobody—and I mean nobody—delivers humiliation quite like a Guyanese president on a public livestream.

It appears that short notice was given for this meeting. One contractor, stationed in the far reaches of the interior, missed the show entirely. No one mentioned the need to rescue those senior officials stranded at the gates of State House after arriving too late. Late comers were quickly taught a life lesson about promptness, the hard way. But some Ministers were seen taking their seats after the inquisition had commenced.

The President didn’t just reprimand contractors or poke a stick at a few slack-jawed engineers; he went after his own ministers also. Yes, these people were asked to stand up to answer the kind of direct, unflinching questions that no self-respecting official should have to endure before sunrise. They must have felt like students caught cheating, standing before a teacher who seemed all too ready to send them to detention.

Our dear ministers were reduced to nervous adolescents. The President, meanwhile, was like a headmaster with a thirst for public displays of discipline. This was a moment of transparency, all right—the kind where dignity, respect, and professional courtesy were so transparent, you couldn’t see them at all.

If this were a sensible administration, the ministers would tender their resignations in protest. But, I suspect they know better than to cross paths with a leader who’s taken up early-morning interrogations as a hobby.

Let’s be clear, though: this wasn’t a productive meeting. There was no deep dive into the delays, no nuanced examination of the root and multifaceted reasons for projects being behind schedule. This was, instead, a masterclass in “leadership by fear,” where public servants were held accountable not to reason, but to spectacle.

The spreadsheets might have been out, but they weren’t guiding this meeting—only amplifying the performance. One would think that permanent secretaries or technical staff would be the ones running the nitty-gritty on these projects. But no. Here, it seems, the President himself must publicly step in, filling a role better suited to a manager than a head of state.

There are professionals.  They’ll tell you that the reasons for stalling are complex, involving supply chains, staff shortages, problems with the weather, unforeseen circumstances and force majeure.  But the President, in his boundless wisdom, has reduced these complexities to a neat little show of public reprimands. The contractors were, naturally, to blame, as were the engineers, and quite possibly sleep-lag.

And let’s not forget, that the consultants were presumed to be responsible for ensuring the contractors were present at this ludicrous hour. You would think there are systems in place, chains of command that don’t require consultants to play sheepdogs for contractors. But no, apparently, administrative duties can be outsourced to anyone willing to take them on, provided they’re prepared to be grilled if things go south.

And why the choice of 5:30 AM, you ask? Some might argue it was to catch everyone off-guard, to instill a sense of urgency. But, knowing our leader, I’m tempted to believe it was purely for the optics—a nod that the “early bird catches the contractor.” Nothing says “I’m serious” quite like a President who disrupts the sleep schedules of his entire administration.

So, here we are, left to wonder: what was achieved by this display? Will the projects suddenly be completed? Will the public finally get their roads, schools and bridges on time? Doubtful. What we will get, however, is the knowledge that at 5:30 AM, in the heart of State House, people were standing stiffly, like students before a teacher, fumbling for words as the President unleashed his wrath.

In the end, this meeting was nothing more than political theater, the kind that trades actual progress for drama, project completion for power plays. And if you’re still awake by the end of it, you’ll see that the real spectacle was not the officials scrambling to please, but a leader who apparently believes that true statesmanship is best conducted at dawn, with a spreadsheet and a scowl.

(A presidential display of “Project Management)

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• cappuccinos and tropical sunsets, consultants and contractors, engineers, Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, President’s meeting.

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