EACH GROUP MUST DO ITS BEST FOR THE LAND!

MOST of the Guyanese people I have spoken to assert that this APNU+AFC government is a much-welcomed political development.
As with anything new, there will be teething problems, but the new addition to the Guyanese family is much welcomed.

Many see this political development of 2015 as a serious attempt to break from a past lined with several public acts of untenable private financial skulduggery. But the “feel good” hiatus is over, the PPP and their sticky-finger boys and girls do not have access to the Treasury anymore, and the business of developing the nation must return to centre stage.

Those who occupy the seats of power have to spend more of their time looking forward, rather than backward.  Leave the Asset Recovery Project to the Asset Recovery Team and the police; ministers have better things to do with their time — like ensuring this economy does not “flat-line”, and making more resources available for our people.

Everyone is telling me that this new Granger/Nagamootoo administration will set the foundation for the next 50 years, and this is a most exciting proposition; most exciting indeed! Finally, Guyana will be on the path to becoming the Singapore of the Western Hemisphere.

But with such ambitions comes serious resistance from those forces opposed to this Coalition succeeding. Therefore, competent and skilful messaging of the work that is being done to achieve the good life is critical. But we can message from now until the cows come home, if the delivery is not there to back it up, the people will find out.

If one is to observe the scorecard of the state machinery vs. the PPP propaganda machinery, any honest person will have to admit the PPP has done a good job since May 2015. This is not a good omen for the government, and reinforces the school of thought that much work has to be done on getting the government’s message out. The infrastructure is in place both at NCN and GINA to get the message out, so what is the problem?

There are now Directors of Communication both for the President and the Prime Minister, with respective machinery at their disposal, but yet this good message is not getting down into Albion and Port Mourant often enough. If one communicates with the ordinary folks in those places, all one hears are messages of fear and under-representation in the State machinery. Those in the know are very clear about the fact that people like Mr. Bharat Dindyal and Dr Raj Singh should have been fired two years ago for alleged gross mismanagement of their respective portfolios.
However, that is not the message getting down into the villages.

In one of my communication with people in the grass root, all I am hearing from Albion is: “Boy, you see, them ah fire from Harry Ram to Balgobin, and only replace them with them friends”.

Now, I do not subscribe to that conclusion, since I have been on the forefront advocating for the summary dismissal of both Dr Raj Singh and Bharat Dindyal for years now, with real evidence at my disposal to back up my conclusion. The respective ministers were perfectly in order to send those two packing, but what is percolating at the grass root level is what matters, and the facts are not getting out and down into the villages fast enough.

In an information vacuum, propaganda is a good fit to replace facts; and in politics, perception in reality. The AFC in particular will hurt badly if these misconceptions are allowed to go unanswered.

The APNU+AFC government has some powerful communicators in it fold, so it befuddles my mind as to why such a discredited political force like the PPP continues to be winning this information war in places like Berbice. If one looks at the political career of the Prime Minister, the Hon. Moses Nagamootoo, they can see a score sheet that is unmatched when it comes to advocacy for the socio-political issues that plague the grassroots both at a micro and macro level for some 50 years. Yet, speak to any second-tier AFC member who has his/her ears to the ground and that person will tell you that the APNU+AFC government faces a serious handicap in articulating its public policies and exposing the wicked intent of the PPP propaganda.

To put it simply, the APNU+AFC government is coming across as awkward on the messaging. This has to change and quickly!

Many have assigned blame for this situation to the newness of the administration and also the lack of executive experience by many of the top officials, but that cannot be an excuse after 100 days.
Everyone must have learnt something new since May 2015, and you do not need a PhD or an MBA to be a great minister. You need a firm grasp of the strategic issues that plague your portfolio, a plan on what needs to be done, a team to get the job done, and hard work.

Essentially, it comes down to properly understanding where we want to go, what are your major milestones, what are your key threats and constraints towards achieving your goal; and, as I said, hard work. Mind you, I said hard work, not meetings, since meetings do not necessarily qualify as hard work.

THERE IS A SOLID AND POSITIVE MESSAGE WAITING TO COME OUT
There are solid messages that the APNU+AFC Information Team really has to get out more often and on time. Firstly, I recognise the patriotic act by President Granger who, with his own pen, slashed his own personal benefits. This patriotic act sets the tone as to how leaders ought to act in the new Guyana.

So how come the ladies I communicated with in Albion do not know that President Granger gave up his benefits, but they are fully aware of the PPP’s message that “witch hunting” is alive and well in post-May 2015 Guyana?

Secondly, when the President said, “no frankincense or myrrh necessary; boats for the school children are a better gift”, again, the Information Team failed him and his government on the messaging. How can a party that supports politicians who own “regal gold crystal chandeliers and specially imported Italian tiles for their beachfront mansions” be allowed to lecture the people of Albion on good governance over a team that is asking for boats for the school children?

One party is driven by greed for a small cabal, while the other is driven by need of the people, and yet the greedy one wins.

Thirdly, we have failed to understand the magnitude of the victory on the Guyana/Venezuela issue. It was literally David trouncing Goliath on the border issue by lining up all the law-abiding international agencies on Guyana’s side. But do the ladies of Albion know this fact, and who drove this initiative to preserve our territorial integrity?

Fourthly, this 2015 Budget was a revolutionary budget for the poor and the working class, but clearly that message is not coming out. When the Guyanese public listens to the PPP propaganda machinery, one is left with a perception that this budget is all “fluff and puff”. But it isn’t! But where is the alternative narrative?

It is unheard of in global economics where, with an expected growth rate of less than three percent, a government offers 17 percent to those at the bottom of the pay scale. What was done for the pensioners was truly magical; even I (a strong advocate for the poor and the working class) did not envisage such a significant increase for the pensioners. But again, these positive aspects of the budget are being buried in the competition for the ears of the people, especially in villages like Albion.

Why is the government allowing the PPP to march along with their objective of changing the political narrative away from the good things that are happening?
 
CONCLUSION
There is a method to the madness, but we have to conclude that the ordinary folks in Guyana continue to be misled with propaganda, and it is time for the positive messages to come to the front. The primary responsibility for driving this transition rests with the State.

Next time I shall be continuing our conversation by sharing my views on why we must motivate more of our people to stay and develop Guyana.

(sasesin1@yahoo.com).