Wise people say, “Yuh na need flambeau fuh see in bright daylight!!” And, dear reader, what your Eyewitness sees is that the breakdown of order in the political realm is inevitably reverberating in all aspects of national life. Does anyone really believe we can have MPs insisting they did nothing wrong in blowing whistles in the ears of a Minister making a presentation in Parliament?? Or ditto for MPs snatching the symbol of authority of Parliament – the Mace – and knocking down the Sergeant-at-Arms defending it?? And ditto for tearing out the communications equipment.
Hey…MPs and other holders of Government offices have long represented the highest aspirations of our society; would we even dream to be the GOVERNOR and his exalted officers?? For us mere natives, the best we could do – if we tried and tried – was to become a clerk in the Civil Service. Or a tad easier, a schoolteacher!! That’s right folks, they couldn’t get teachers to come out to the colonies, so the missionaries who did come out to save souls started with the young in schools!! – and trained locals to carry on their mission.
So, to the ordinary folks, the school teacher was the closest they got to officialdom. In the villages or in the wards, the teacher represented the Empire. He might’ve earned a pittance, and any canecutter could’ve out-earned him – but boy, oh boy, did he have STATUS!! He wore his suit and tie, set standards of behaviour, and was given the highest respect by one and all. The British arranged the school system like the Romans governed their Empire.
At the top was the headmaster – get it?? Head MASTER! Followed by Senior Masters and Mistresses, and then the ordinary masters and mistresses. The students had “prefects” elevated from their ranks to intermediate between them and the “Masters”!! All sorts of rituals – like being literally rapped on your knuckles for having your hair out of place!! – kept the order. Condign whippings were doled out for more serious infractions – like getting your sums wrong!!
Now, we knew Independence would loosen some of all this disciplining; and it certainly did!! But did we expect to get to a point where students – and their parents – can enter schools and assault teachers?? Well, as your Eyewitness said, this breakdown in the educational order is only a subset of the breakdown in the social order – led by our political types. And it happens occasionally from the PPP benches, too!! Remember that MP brandishing that dildo in Parliament??
So, rather than wring our hands and moaning, “O tempora!! O mores”, let us demand that our political elite set appropriate standards for the rest of us.
Or else we’ll see more teachers brandishing those cutlasses!!
…in LGEs
One of the challenges in Local Government Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) is the pittance given to the Councillors!! Your Eyewitness knows that man can’t live on bread alone, but Jeez…he gotta get some bread. And trust your Eyewitness – the fellows on those bodies just can’t even buy stale bread on their stipends. So, many of them bend the rules to make something on the side – which destroys the entire structure of Local Government!!
What to do?? Well, it looks like we have a solution at hand!! Local popular businessmen “Shell” Mohamed has thrown his hat into the ring to be elected as a Councillor in the Eccles/ Ramsburg NDC. Now, isn’t this the perfect fit? Or what?? Here’s a businessman who has more gold that Midas – so he’ll be insulted to be offered a bribe by any grifter!! And the fact that he’s a SUCCESSFUL businessman means he can get things done in our mudland.
Let’s get some more local businessmen in the LGE race!!
…in the Judiciary
What’s this with the PNC claiming that the Judiciary’s cowed by the Government?? Haven’t they noticed the judgements going against the said Government?? And – as far as your Eyewitness can tell – the PPP flag ain’t flying over no court!!
