THERE were elections last week in two civil society organisations – the Bar Association of Guyana and the Private Sector Commission (PSC). Both organisations have term limits. For that reason, the Bar Association has changed presidents. In the case of the PSC, the incumbent was re-elected, but after his new term, he will be ineligible for re-election.

There are some things in life that run against the core of what human existence stands for, and, for me, permanent leadership is one of them. I have done four commentaries on term limits in my columnist career; this is my fourth. The absence of term limits makes no sense at all.

Permanent leadership defeats two purposes in life. One is to allow humans to gain experience so that they know the environment they have to interact with at a deeper level when they grow older. The sharing of that experience makes other humans more knowledgeable of the world and human nature. I have been associated with politics in Guyana since I was 17 being a polling agent in the 1968 general elections. Since that year, my experience in politics has made me a better human. All countries change their foreign diplomats after three or four years so they can gain experience in other countries.

The second negative impact of permanent leadership is its denial of the rise of talent. When you are the leader of an army, a government, a business company, the interfacing with the society and the world at large makes you more knowledgeable and you acquire skills and talent that allow you to go through life with less discomfort.

When a person occupies the headship of an organisation for decades, there is no space for others to rise to the top so they can acquire skills that are waiting to be possessed. Immediately the example of the Guyana Olympics Association (GOA) comes to mind. One person, attorney Juman Yassen, stood at the apex for 30 years. Can you imagine in those 30 years, the countries that Mr. Yassin visited and would have learned about the global world of sports?

Here is a commonsensical argument. If the GOA had term limits, many other sport personalities would have had the opportunity to travel around the world and learn about sports throughout international society. Now if a person at 25 years is shut out from leading an organisation and the incumbent goes on for 30 years, then at 55, that person may no longer be interested in the job because of pressure of family commitments and other interests in life. It was inherently wrong because that person was denied the experience of seeing the world because of the absence of term limits.

Here is what I wrote on March 11, 2022: “The Berbice cricket administrators recently rejected a motion to have its head serve only three consecutive terms of two years. Instead, they went for five consecutive terms. Obviously, this means that a CEO can be in power for ten straight years. Why in a young country like this does anyone want their administrator of cricket, football, hockey, tennis, racehorse etc to hold office for 10 years? Why not four or five? Why ten? Why not share the experience so after four years, another young person gets a taste of what it is like to administer an important national association?”
When this happened in Berbice, I felt sorry for my country because I believed it had people who operated against the value of common sense. It still has. Patrick Yarde is going on to 40 years as head of the Guyana Public Service Union. There are hundreds (yes, hundreds) of public servants who have reached mandatory retirement of 55 and were never given a chance to serve as the head of their union.

Lincoln Lewis is going beyond 35 years as General Secretary of the Guyana Trade Union Congress. He is the longest serving General Secretary of the GTUC after his predecessor, Joseph Pollydore, who served for 25 years.

Then there is Mr. Mike Mc Cormack. The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) started in 1979 with Mr. Mc Cormack as its President. This means Mr. Mc Cormack has been at the apex of the GHRA for 46 years. It has to be an absurdity for any organisation to accept a person as its president for 46 years. Think of the hundreds who have been in the GHRA and were not given the opportunity to lead it.

The Constitutional Reform Commission must legislate for term limits for all civil society organisations.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.