Dear Editor,
One of the important things a citizen has going for him is the right to know how his country is being governed. It is called his sovereign right, and is something that cannot be bartered or traded for another. In this regard, the wealth that is accrued therefrom is also called our sovereign wealth.
Now, the word sovereign comes from the colonials having as their head a monarch, or “sovereign ruler”. Other such words in the lexicon are crown lands, etcetera, meaning “belonging to the state”.
But there are other definitions of the word “sovereign,” and I quote from the free legal dictionary, which states: “supremacy of authority or rule as exercised by a sovereign or sovereign state, or one having complete independence and self-governing.” It goes on further to state that a sovereign right refers to a legal right possessed by a state or by its agencies, and enables the state to carry out its official functions to the benefit of the people.”
Now, this is the point I want former Minister of Finance Winston Jordan to take careful note of, “the benefit of the people”. Jordan, like his compatriot at the Elections Commission, Lowenfield, were acting under the assumption that they are the state, and not the other way round: that they were supposed to be acting on behalf of the state, which is the people, or to exemplify the will of the people. Theirs was the convenient belief that the state consists of a few cloistered group members who could, as it were, do as they please and yet be considered as acting on behalf of the people.
Well, it certainly does not work that way. In every aspect of the state’s business, the people have a right to know; nothing ought to be held secret from them. Whether it is their votes or their money, nothing should be withheld from them. Gone are the days of absolute leadership, when the state’s matters were dealt with as if they were the leaders’ private property.
As we phase into the new dispensation of governance, the rights and privileges of the people must be upheld at all times.
Respectfully,
Neil Adams
