PRESS RELEASE 89/14 For Immediate Release May 26, 2014 GOOD LEADERS MATTER Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Kenny D. Anthony says the current environment calls for good, decisive leadership. According to the Prime Minister, the challenges faced on the regional and national levels magnify how much good leaders matter to development. Speaking at the Monroe College Caribbean Leadership Forum on Thursday, May 22, 2014, Hon. Dr. Kenny D. Anthony reiterated that this period calls for a major shift in our attitude towards leadership. The Prime Minister said, This is not an easy time for leadership in the Caribbean. We have had to stare in the face very real challenges that I know make a lot of people uneasy, and in some instances, unsure and afraid about the future. The economic situation which confronts us has called for a frank, and at times, what is perceived as austere, leadership responses. I am sure you will appreciate that these responses do not often find popular resonance amongst our citizenry. The truth is a crisis requires strong, purposeful, and courageous leadership. However, the mistake is to assume that the leadership solution is simply about politicians and those elected at the top. In his address, the Prime Minister stressed that the culture of shifting the responsibility to the next functionary needs to be renounced and all organizations must be accountable. Dr. Anthony said, It is a solution that must be sought at all levels, and in all spheres. It is a solution that has to be applied to our businesses, to the management of our public institutions, our ministries, the command of the police force and its police stations, our hospitals, in other words, in all spheres where decisions have to be made. This is a real challenge for Caribbean societies. In many, or perhaps even in most institutions, the lines or modes of accountability are blurred. In some, accountability may not exist at all. It simply is not part of the culture of governance. Put another way, our Caribbean institutions, and not just the politically elected ones, do need to become more democratic, more open, and more accountable to the people they serve. We are famous for “passing the buck.” Perhaps, if we might play less the prevailing Caribbean tradition of passing blame to the next level or to the next functionary, we might make a major shift in attitudes to leadership. The Caribbean Leadership Forum was held in Saint Lucia, on Thursday May 22 and Friday May 23, 2014, under the theme Crime Reduction Strategies and Democratic Policing: Respect for community and Human Rights”. END
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 15:02:13 +0000
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