The word honorable comes from the Latin word honorabilis which comes from the Latin
word honor. A dictionary definition of
the word honorable is “in accordance with or characterized by principles of
honor; upright or worthy of honor and high respect; estimable; creditable”
(Dictionary.com). Now in Jamaica our politicians or government ministers are
called the most honorable. Now by replacing the definition we get something
like ‘the most worthy of honor and high respect; estimable; creditable Portia
Simpson Miller’ but is that the case? What is estimable or credible about some
of them? And what hurts me most, is that they are considered the ‘MOST estimable or credible’, most
credible mi foot!
Gordon House is filled with non-performers, incompetent leaders,
corruption, and people who continue to waste public funds costing tax payers
millions of dollars – lack of accountability. The number of scandals and corruption
that has been recorded on the part of government ministers and by extension the
government itself, call into question the idea of most worthy of honor and high
respect. What our government is doing is a disgrace to mankind, and a disgrace
to Jamaica. Because of some of them, Jamaica is constantly being viewed
negatively in the international community.
“Outside of Finance Minister Peter Phillips, Justice
Minister Mark Golding, and junior minister in science, technology, energy and
mining, Julian Robinson, it is hard to find a real performer in the present
Cabinet.
Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Anthony Hylton
has decided to lead the country down the garden path with Krauck and Anchor --
aptly called 'crown and anchor' on social media -- while his boss, the prime
minister, simply sits there and allows it to happen. She does this because she
is apparently not interested in leadership. She only wants to reign” (Mark
Wignall, Jamaica Observer Columnist, April 30, 2015).
“Former Lucea mayor to know fate
Shernet Haughton is being sent to the political knackers,
and rightly so. Why was similar treatment not meted out to A J Nicholson,
Richard Azan, Dr Fenton Ferguson, Phillip Paulwell, and others? I feel no
sympathy for Haughton. But is it that she is what a recent Newsweek Magazine
referred as 'easy peeps'. Our country is rapidly being destroyed by the
governance of too many who have the least ability. (Garfield Higgins, Jamaica
Observer Columnist, April 26, 2015).
When we have these kind of persons leading us, what is
honorable about them? We have a government who does not know what
accountability means. Let us look at just the common persons in society. Being
a leader requires a person to be honest, trust worthy and looks out for the
best interests of those whom he/she serves. You are expected to be a role
model, one who motivates and encourage, and one who is different from the rest.
A teacher, who students look to for leadership on a daily basis, has to be
careful of what they do, say, and how they react in particular situations. He/she
does not want students to lose respect for him/her.
In the workplace the leader has to be effective, and
sometimes that is the real difference between public and private entities. In the
public context, one can be corrupt, incompetent and not performing and gets
away with it but in the private context, that is not so. Only in Jamaica we
have that type of system which is a plague to our nation. Our Westminster system
is a curse unto us. Where people are ministers of portfolios and their qualification
is incompatible with the position. Other countries put us to shame. The Prime Minister
of Trinidad fired a cabinet member to behaving badly in public, would that
happen in Jamaica? In Rwanda, ministers have to sign a performance contract –
where they must accomplish something by x time, and if that is not met by that
time stipulated in the contract, they have to go. Can that happen in Jamaica?
We are so comfortable with non-performers and incompetency. Recently
a young man insisted that the brightest minds should be government ministers,
even if they are not part of the political party in power – not a new concept
but he received backlash and that shows how we refuse to challenge our status
quo, to change traditions so that we can move forward. Our country is put to
shame when compared to other counties vis-à-vis accountability and corruption. And
we have leaders who claimed to be the most honourable? Most honourable mi foot!
If you want to see honourable look at Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, he alone put
Jamaica to shame!
