by Linda Straker
- Retreat for cabinet ministers and senior management of public service held on Friday, 29 July
- Secretary to the Cabinet stated retreat aimed at having best for Public Service and country
- Educational sessions will engage others who can guide them in right direction
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell admits his administration is lacking in public sector experience. Going forward there will educational sessions where they will engage others who can guide them in the right direction. He delivered remarks during the opening ceremony of the first Government retreat for cabinet ministers and senior management of the public service held at the Radisson Hotel Conference room on Friday, 29 July 2022.
“The fact that we went back to having transition leads is to accept that we don’t know everything, that we accept that we may have significant weaknesses that we will need strengthening. We accept that we will need to learn from others, particularly those who are more experience than us,” he said. “And so, this retreat is part of our willingness to engage and embark upon a learning exercise, but ultimately as the persons who will decide policies for the government over the next several years, we want to forge a close professional working relationship with the senior management of the government.”
The Prime Minister referred to the Party’s general election manifesto as a bible for cabinet ministers.
“We are under no illusion that if that relationship is not a professional one…we will not be able to achieve the transformational agenda that I am satisfied it is the only basis on which the citizens of Grenada gave us the mandate to assume office,” he continued. “And therefore, the programmatic platforms that I have set out in our manifesto is the bible of the Ministers of Cabinet and the ultimate goal is in fact to suit the achievement of those things that are set out in the manifesto. We are under no illusion that some of them may not be achievable in 4 or 5 years, but we are satisfied that if we set the foundation to achieve them that they can occur in the medium to long term,” he told the participants at the one-day retreat.
Secretary to the Cabinet Ruth Rouse explained that the retreat is aimed at having the best for the Public Service and the country. “This retreat is the first in a series of sections of the next few months to enable an understanding of how to achieve the Government’s agenda effectively and efficiently. It is against this backdrop that I implore and encourage you to seize this moment and the exercises involved, so that when we leave here today, we are better equipped in the core areas that foster the metamorphic agenda of the government,” she said.
“We and the rest of the Public Service have a role to play in ensuring that we make profound and lasting transformational changes in how we work and the expertise in how we involve our work. These changes can be achieved through fully utilising technology to modernize service delivery, to inform more robust policies that can tackle the wider demands of our citizens,” she said.
Leader admits to a weak administration – Governments are elected to run the affairs of the people, not fancy speeches and useless rhetoric.
Your main purpose is to find ways to deliver all the essential needs of our society. With the constant rise in poverty, it is your responsibility to provide employment, and better economic policies to promote development (not the admission that your ministers are weak) No one wants to hear it. Get up or you should know what to do. One of the main purposes you were elected is to make policies, not make any policy, but sound ones based on the public needs and requirements.
The greatest purpose of any government in any part of the world is to provide jobs and employment to people. Employment shows the greatest strength and trust in any system. The decision to get people working is one of your most important duties and responsibilities, not an inflated ego. The leadership change during the last election was seen by many as a way to make things right for our people. We were promised a place where there will be no hunger, no poverty, no suffering, and full employment with big money. Today, you are telling us that you cannot even find the entrance to the gate.
Why are the weak and the poor always the ones to suffer?
Congratulations to Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell and the rest of the New Democratic Congress (NDC) team on your astounding victory at the polls. The term “Consultative Democracy” sounded very good during the election campaign and all indications are pointing to the Prime Minister’s determination to avoid letting the term end up becoming just another captivating phrase. The Greek philosopher Plato derided the democratic form of governance on the ground that it was like a many headed monster which was forever beset by the inability of those in government to engage in decisive decision making. To a certain extent, such a notion might make some sense when juxtaposed against a monarchial or dictatorial form of governance. Even so, the classical notion of democracy as “GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE, AND BY THE PEOPLE” must be the guiding principle for the inclusion of the term “Democratic” in the party’s name. And the scope of the term “Democracy” could find an even broader application if one were to always try to guide one’s democracy by a good dose of “MERITOCRACY” which was another mantra of the NDC platform. The moral of the story, therefore, is that the NDC should remain true to its purpose of making its style of governance as all inclusive as possible. Thus, The Prime Minister should never allow himself to become distracted by the many demands for political bloodletting (“GREEN versus YELLOW”). If the argument in favor of such a policy is that such was the modus operandi of the Keith Mitchell regime, then the failure of the New National Party (NNP) in the last election must be taken as a convincing lesson in the failure of that kind of nepotism and victimization. And so, Prime Minister Mitchell should take heed.