AT the dawn of 2016, this nation is being reminded that the August 21, 2012 Agreement between central government (CG) and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region 10, which represents the interest of the citizens of the region, is yet to be honoured. Given the commitment of the administration, it is the fervent hope that issues not dealt with in 2015 will be addressed in 2016; that high on the agenda will be this agreement, which ought to be honoured to the letter.

The 2012 Agreement is a litmus test for CG, by action, to demonstrate its respect for the Guyana Constitution, which protects the autonomy of the Local Democratic Organs (LDOs), which are the regional and local governments. Compliance with this agreement further brings into focus how far the operatives of this government can be trusted when making commitments to citizens.

Given the spirit and intent of our constitution, government is elected to serve at the behest and on behalf of the people. Ours is a representative democracy, where leaders are elected and paid by us to represent and serve us. It behooves us therefore, as a people, to collectively take responsibility for honouring and implementing decisions made from time to time. To fail to do so means we are failing to discharge our civic duty, and are under-representing the representative nature of our democracy.

In 2012, the opposition groups — A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) — supported the cause of the people of Linden/Region 10, and publicly stated that their cause was a just one. The parties to the signing of this agreement were Prime Minister Samuel Hinds on behalf of CG, Chairman Sharma Solomon on behalf of Region 10, Rupert Roopnaraine on behalf of the APNU, and Nigel Hughes on behalf of the AFC. The agreement was subsequently tabled by Vanessa Kissoon, debated and approved by the National Assembly, the highest decision-making forum, on 27th June 2013.

This agreement brings this nation to the closest point of respecting the spirit and intent of Article 77 of the Constitution, which speaks to the region developing its plan and CG funding it.

When the Constitution was promulgated in 1980, new forms of government were created. Outside of the national and reconfiguration of the local authority, the country was now divided into 10 administrative regions, headed by RDCs. These regions were demarcated on the basis of informed topography, which indicates their resources within. It was expected then that each region would start its own development on the basis of the existing/indigenous resources.
In the interim, it required continuity of day-to-day lives in the respective community. It was for this reason that CG continued to make decisions on funding available, until such time as the National Assembly, under Article 76 of the Constitution, makes laws for the regions to make and dispose of their own revenues as they deem fit. In the interim, there was a Government Order 12/1980 issued by the then PNC Minister of Regional and National Development, Robert Corbin, which sought to give some autonomy to the LDOs. This order was undermined by the PPP government in 2006, during the stewardship of Minister of Local Government, Clinton Collymore.

Thirty-five years into the Constitution, there remains an absence of will and commitment by CG and the National Assembly to empower the RDCs, Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and municipalities. The present Constitution has seen the replacement of district commissioners with Regional Executive Officers (REOs) appointed by CG. Unfortunately, the REOs and Town Clerks have since come to operate at the behest of, and been seen as an arm of, CG. The situation has become more centralised with each passing year. We continued to see emanating from the regions, programmes lacking the input of the people in the region.

It was against this backdrop, and given the known marginalisation suffered by the people, that in 2012 they stood up as one and demanded that their right be respected in developing an indigenous economic programme to meet their needs. The position of Region 10 was guided by Articles 13, 76 and 77 of the Constitution, which speak to inclusionary democracy, CG partnering with the regions to develop their programmes and the region’s economic autonomy.

There is a school of thought that national politicians do not want local institutions to operate in an autonomous manner. It is suspected they believe that ideas must not flow from the citizens and leaders in the respective regions and communities, but only from them. It is the concern that they revel in the notion that they are seen as knights in shining armour riding into the communities to distribute what they perceive to be goods for the citizens, including announcing what they think are the needs of the region.

As we mark this 50th year of political independence, even as our chests are rightly held erect with pride that we have broken the bondage of a far distant land, heads must be bowed in shame that while the colonial authorities have departed, the colonial mindset of governance continues to reign. And this is demonstrated not only in the manner in which policies, programmes and decisions are made, but also in the conditioning of society to think that, even with political independence, we are being ruled with constant reference to our political leadership as rulers.

Let it be made clear that, nowhere in the Constitution are citizens referred as subjects, and leaders as rulers. This supreme instrument talks about representation and involvement in the management and decision-making processes of the State. Given that this is so, we are subjects of no one, but agents of our self-determination.

As such, it is not the purview of CG to say to any region or local authority that it has the right to develop programmes for those communities and their residents. There must be growth in our politics, and all efforts must be made in 2016 to deepen and strengthen our democracy.
A productive 2016 to all!