Dear Editor,
Hon. Minister Kwame McCoy is alleged to have assaulted a female member of Parliament.
Last week, I had occasion to write about the deterioration in our highest decision-making body, a sad and sorry state of affair. With reference to McCoy’s upward movement to become a minister, many to whom I spoke, felt it was a fitting reward for a Party member that has been doing the biddings of the PPP and its leadership.
To those persons I expressed a concern. Mr. McCoy worked with me as a Personal Assistant when I was Mayor and I discovered that he had (committed an infraction).
When confronted, his response was to allegedly slap Ms. Etwaroo. The above facts are known to all those who operated within the Mayoral Complex, and they begged me not to hand him over to the police.
The assault of a female is of course a dastardly act. And I have another concern. One characteristic of a sensible leader and leadership is to know where to place his or her supporters. A good and sensible Leader should also cling to the philosophical underpinnings of the ‘Peter Principle.”
The Peter Principle is clear and human experience justifies it. You can promote a person to a level beyond their competence. That is, they can be useful but promote them and they become incompetent and sometimes an embarrassment to the Organisation.
In the political arena, I learnt the importance of recognizing the validity of the ‘Peter Principle.’
The likes of McCoy can serve the Leaders well when there is need for strident action. Put them in a position where there is need for sanity and calmness, they are just unable and ill-equipped. The other truism is that a leopard cannot change his spots and in the old days, they said a leper cannot be cured.
I hope condign action is taken so that we qualify as a people to earn the label of being civilized. The alternative is, as, we have already seen that we are inching towards the culture of the primitive barbarian. Let us pray and hope for the sake of Guyana and succeeding generations.
Regards
Hamilton Green
