Dear Editor,
One of the APNU/AFC Cabinet members, Jaipaul Sharma, asked by the media for a comment on the escalation of violence in Guyana’s schools, stated “bring back hanging. This thing has got out of control”. Is he serious? Is Mr Sharma seriously proposing we hang children? Outside of him joking, there is no other way to interpret what he said. And if his fallback position is he was joking, then it is still preposterous and reckless – this is no joking matter. When taken together with Nicolette Henry’s disdainful declaration a few months back after two children were engaged in a violent confrontation in a city school that “these things are normal, they happen all the time”, it suggests that the Cabinet is clueless and totally insensitive when it comes to dealing with school violence.
I suspect both positions are ones David Granger himself would want to distance himself from. Mr Granger is clueless on most matters Government must deal with. But I refuse to think he is so disinterested, callous and so heartless that he would align himself and his Government with these extreme, outrageous positions. It is, therefore, bothersome Mr Granger did not hazard a comment when either of his Ministers uttered such utter garbage. None of his other Cabinet members or spokespersons did either. Silence, in this case, speaks loudly. While not an option, exercising silence on such sensitive, critical matters demonstrate cluelessness or simply that the Government does not care.
Cabinet members, when they speak, present positions that the public considers Government’s position, unless the Head of the Government or responsible spokespersons clarify Government’s actual positions. In the absence of such public communications and clarifications, these ministerial declarations constitute Government’s positions. It is imperative when a Cabinet member speaks with such “loose mouth” that somebody either owns or disowns on behalf of Cabinet. I shudder to think what would have been the consequence had one of Bharrat Jagdeo’s Cabinet members uttered such nonsense. Jagdeo would have immediately disowned such nonsense, distanced the Cabinet, rebuked the Cabinet member and also would have had the Cabinet’s spokesperson issued a statement officially disowning it. The recalcitrant Cabinet member would have heard from him in private and in Cabinet, and Jagdeo would not have been shy in publicly rebuking that Minister.
School violence is a serious social issue, it is a critical developmental area, one that Government cannot and must not take a place on the sidelines. Government is not just a player, not just another stakeholder in addressing this issue, Government must be the lead stakeholder to address school violence. Government must have a plan and invest in and play a leading role in implementing an active programme. School violence is not something that is limited to Guyana. It is a global phenomenon and, unfortunately, Guyana is not the only country where school violence is escalating. When we hear Cabinet members echoing idiotic, reprehensible statements like the ones Ms. Henry did and now the one Sharma has, it exposes the cluelessness, the unpreparedness and unreadiness of those in charge to take control of the situation. In these circumstances, we can expect the problem to mount and to get worse.
Mr Granger has largely sidelined himself from all these grave matters. It is the same with violence against women. As the man who took the mantle of Head of State in May 2015, these are matters he must inject himself into, no matter how uncomfortable it is. When he hears one of his own Cabinet members dismissing school violence as “something that happen all the time, that is normal”, he has to act immediately to distant himself and Government from such a reckless statement and approach to the problem. Yet, Mr. Granger said nothing and the Cabinet spokesperson allowed that statement to remain unchallenged, even after an enormous public outrage. Now that Sharma has come out with an even more preposterous position, suggesting we “bring back hanging” to deal with school violence, Mr. Granger must not remain silent. The sideline is the last place he should want to be on this matter and the sideline is not where the citizens expect the Head of State to find comfort. Somebody must demonstrate maturity and someone needs to take responsibility. Instead, as usual, we are floating, the responsible officials are in la la land, as the problem morphs into an out-of-control monster.
Sincerely,
Dr Leslie Ramsammy
