Fix the core of the problem

Errol Hewitt, Contributor

"Whoever of you love life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongues from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it" Psalm 34: 12-14

The period between conception and birth for a donkey is 365 days and for a sperm whale it's anywhere between 480 and 590 days. For Prime Minister Bruce Golding and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), the product of their veiled intrigue with the United States (US) and its extradition request ('Dudusgate') is still not yet known, although the gestation period is now beyond expectation. Who knows what will finally be delivered!

The People's National Party, once known as the thinking-man's party had, in trying to reignite this reputation, a few annual conferences ago, promised a progressive agenda which would enunciate in detail the way forward for our country. In the continued absence of that much- promised agenda, during which time even a sperm whale would have delivered, we are still not sure what offspring is being gestated or regrettably, aborted.

A Major Liability

A very popular and long-held public view is the strong belief that while the political process is crucial, as it has however been operated since political independence, it is considered a major liability to national development. This is especially evident from a post-colonial standpoint, where the masses own kith and kin and are now the leaders of a people which has survived the cruelty of slavery and the exploitation of colonialism and now justifiably hope to at last realise individually, their full potential.

Our own political leaders seem, like our colonial masters, more concerned to throw symbolic bits from the table to the nearly 30 per cent of the population which are their respective hard-core tribal support. This, they do, while securing their own interests, rather than providing meaningful leadership to a once and still (potentially) great people. That core tribal support is still a source of comfort and a major buffer between the general population and the political leadership. And that core, some of whom were in the recent past easily satisfied by 'a nanny and a box lunch' are, as the Jamaican saying goes, much like insatiable goats - they 'nyam and wipe dem mouth?' ready again to eat.

Decades of abuse and the expressed furore by citizens against political malfeasance and abuse of trust, has traditionally been ignored partly because of the inadequacy of the laws, the tightly defensive culture of political parties in Jamaica and blind tribal support. This reality is so etched in the daily lives of the people that in many, there is a feeling of impotence in the affairs of their own country, and in many more there is a spreading despondency and hopelessness for their country, a fatal conclusion that 'nuh betta nuh deh' and that the only real option is migration.

So many of our trained young people and tertiary graduates are leaving our families, our communities and our country because they believe they no longer have a choice. But there is no real indication that our leaders are influenced by these indicators or anything else but their own interests, given the blind shamelessness with which political power is sought and held on to - as of a matter of life and death.

The Depth, Width of It All

'Dudusgate' and all that it implies, at the core of which is the seeming close linkage between alleged criminality and the heights of government, is symbolic of the depth and width and seriousness of our problem as a country. And this problem in our midst seems so much unchecked by either the laws, and morality, or even a sense of shame by those in a position to make a difference - whether colleagues in the inner political circles, party members or anyone else. The absence of any positive response by the political leaders to the dual nationality issue as is legally and morally required, is instructive of the decadence of our politics and our politicians at the highest level.

Political leaders' insistence

The perpetual grievance of rich donor countries is the lack of any real national strategic plan, and even when it exists, the insistence of political leaders to finance flamboyant projects out of step with any plan and seemingly an attempt at a legacy to the glory of the politician and/or the party. The wastage of precious funds on unnecessary, ill-timed projects such as a four-lane airport highway; the perpetuation of a colonial education system and a trickle-down economic model which adamantly refuses to work, evidence the poverty of successive leadership. The placement of political appointees to an ever widening range of jobs is approaching the point of actively militating against the sacrifice of poor people, in educating their children to rise to the top, outside of partisan politics.

It must not be construed that no good thing has been achieved - the beginning of legal reform in the last administration is a useful example, but increasingly, the good has seemingly been overshadowed and outweighed by the bad. It has assisted in the spawning of the now rampant epidemic of mediocrity and corruption which has invaded our country.

The Basics - Trust and Capability.

There are two essential issues in the 'Dudusgate' Affair which are also indicative of similar past political issues:

1. The question of trust in our political leadership, irrespective of political party, and

2. The question of the intent and capability of that leadership.

Our trust in our political leadership has, over the past three decades plus, been sorely and consistently tested and found wanting. Our trust historically has been haughtily battered with impunity. The arrogance of not telling the people the details of recent activities which have desecrated the country's international reputation and cost lives as well as untold millions of tax payers money, is neither new nor singular and emphasises the relevance of the "Dudusgate' Affair. The refusal of 'Dudusgate' to go away underscores a divine law that 'every truth will be revealed.'

Trust blindly

In this, as in the many cases preceding, we are being asked to trust our elected officials blindly, not the least of whom are our prime minister, his deputy, the minister of justice/attorney general and the solicitor general.

The capability and capacity of our political leadership has quite often been overwrought, but increasingly seems insufficient for today's needs and is further weakened by the growing inadequacies of the civil service on which it depends. If the utilisation of the lobbyists, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips was to influence against the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, then it was harebrained and infantile. How could either our Government headed by the prime minister, the honourable Bruce Golding or the governing party, the JLP headed by Bruce Golding, expect the US government to accede to such a request when it has spent billions of dollars around the world to reduce the trade in drugs - one of the charges against Dudus? Surely this is not a child's make believe tea party?

How could the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and trade, not furiously protest to the prime minister against his actions and if unsuccessful, not resign his office in protest and allow the JLP the future possibility of his leadership untainted and perhaps even fortified by this matter?

Similarly, how could the largely foreign-based minister of tourism not distance himself from a matter at odds with his responsibility to the nation? Are we to believe that the JLP's secretariat or the core of the foreign affairs ministry (which ever was applicable) is so incompetent to have allowed such childishness to prevail and escalate to such a disaster? Or, is this yet again the reality of the 'one- eye man in the camp of the blind'?

The Reality

Our prime minister refers to himself as the driver of the bus of State. But however much the bus is upgraded and updated, however much the engine is overhauled, filters and tyres changed, faulty parts replaced and the interior repaired and enhanced by the managers (government), we are going nowhere if the depot staff is selling spare parts over the fence, maintenance is incomplete, inferior parts secretly used, the conductor is pocketing some of the fares and the driver diverts from the planned route to satisfy a secret adulterous affair.

We must convince the political leadership that the required positive changes - campaign financing, the Charter of Rights etc. are crucial not only for the country but in their own self-interest. We must convince the landed gentry - the chambers of commerce, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica etc. that these changes in the political process must focus more attention on small business and the masses whose socio-economic progress is also in their own long-term interest.

We must encourage the media to report the facts fearlessly; we must galvanise civil society to demand of our politicians the truth, honesty and a commitment to country. The Church must eschew the palace, return to its first love and, like John the Baptist, speak fearlessly and honestly as God's spokesmen about the evil which prevails

If we discover inexhaustible oil and gas resources; if we find gold under all of St Catherine but do not address urgently this major problem of the political process and the character of politicians, we are going nowhere - we are but treading water, staying alive but bound to drown as we tire in the deep.

"It is not possible to get straight wood from crooked timber"- African Proverb.

Errol Hewitt is an ICT consultant. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.