Since last December, the nation had to endure some of the most unpleasant occurrences at City Hall, following the Head of the Presidential Secretariat’s announcement of the substantive appointment of Ms. Carol Sooba as the Town Clerk of our capital city, Georgetown. Ms. Sooba had served as acting Town Clerk for a little over a year following her appointment to that position by the then Minister of Local Government.
Dispute over the Town Clerk’s appointment
One of the applicants for the position, Mr. Royston King, who currently holds the position of Public Relations Officer, felt aggrieved and sought the intervention of the Court. The Chief Justice ruled that Ms. Sooba’s appointment was illegal since the Minister of Local Government had no authority to make such an appointment. Rather, that authority is vested in the yet-to-be established Local Government Commission. The Court nevertheless indicated that Ms. Sooba should continue to function as Town Clerk.
On 8 May 2014, the acting Town Clerk reportedly locked the City Chambers as a result of which the Council was forced to convene its meeting in the compound of City Hall. At that meeting, the Council approved of the appointment of Mr. King as the Town Clerk. At the next meeting of the Council thereafter, there was a tussle as to who should sit on the chair of the Town Clerk. The scene was an ugly and unpleasant one, and was slightly short of a physical encounter. Those who have seen the video would testify to this.
Five days later on 13 May 2014, it was the acting Town Clerk’s turn to seek the intervention of the Court in relation to the appointment of Mr. King. In what appeared to be an unprecedented degree of swiftness, the Court convened the following day and ruled that Mr. King’s appointment was illegal. The Chief Justice stated that, unless cause is shown and/or reason provided, then the move to appoint Mr. King was unlawful, ultra vires, irrational, unreasonable, wholly in excess of jurisdiction, unreasonable, null, void and of no legal effect. This ruling effectively prevented Mr. King from performing any duties as Town Clerk. The Chief Justice also stated that for the Mayor to decide that Ms. Sooba should no longer perform the functions of Town Clerk, or send her on administrative leave, was also unlawful. Mr. King’s lawyers appealed the Chief Justice’s ruling, and on 22 May, the Appellate Judge ordered Ms. Sooba to show cause why she should not be removed from the post. A further hearing is scheduled for 2 June.
Local Government Commission
Article 78A provides for the establishment of a Local Government Commission with responsibility for, among others, dealing with as it deems fit, all matters relating to the regulation and staffing of local government organs. However, to date no such commission has been established. In August 2009, the National Assembly passed a Local Government Commission Bill effectively allowing for the Administration to select all six members of the Commission, as follows:
● Three by the President in accordance with his own deliberate judgment;
● Two by the President after consultation with the Opposition Leader; and
● One by the Local Government Minister after consultation with local democratic organs.
There was, however, disagreement in the National Assembly over this proposed arrangement as the Opposition members wanted half of the members to be appointed by the Opposition Leader. They also wanted the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson to be appointed by the President after consultation with the Opposition Leader and not elected by the Commission members as proposed in the Bill.
In July 2012, the Bill was subsequently resubmitted to the National Assembly for consideration as part of a package of four bills relating to local government. While the National Assembly approved of these Bills, the President chose not to assent to the Local Government Commission Bill, hence the Chief Justice’s reference to the “yet-to-be established” Commission in his ruling on the Carol Sooba case. The President contended that the Bill violated the Constitution as regards the powers of the Local Government Minister. However, it is not for the President, but rather the Courts, to determine the constitutionality of a matter. As such, it would be more appropriate for the Attorney General to seek a ruling on the matter.
Problems of the City Council
From the very inception, questions were raised about Ms. Sooba’s suitability for the position mainly due to a lack of requisite qualifications compared with those of the other candidates for the post. The Government was, however, vigorous in its defence of her appointment, contending that qualifications were not the only criterion that informed the selection. However, in any job situation, there must be a minimum set of qualification requirements. In terms of her performance during the period in which Ms. Sooba acted as Town Clerk, one finds it difficult to identify any specific area that would have counter-balanced her lack of requisite qualifications.
Few will disagree that there is an urgent need to address what is perceived to be a high degree of inefficiency and a lack of a business management approach in addressing the myriads of problems facing the Council, including allegations of mismanagement. In addition, as of September last year, there were no audited accounts of the City Council since 2004, and it is doubtful whether there has been any movement since then. Previous years’ accounts have also been seriously qualified by the Auditor General. The Government, however, appeared to have blundered badly in the choice of the person to lead any effort to reverse this deteriorating trend and to assist in restoring “our garden city” to its former glory. Indeed, one gets the impression that the Government was more interested in seeking to exercise control with what is going on at City Hall rather than putting in place mechanisms to best serve the citizens of Georgetown.
The nation is extremely tired of the physical state of our capital city where garbage of unbearable stench could be found almost everywhere and where there is flooding after a few hours of moderate rainfall due mainly to clogged drains. Yet we expect to attract tourists, considering that the Marriott Hotel and an expanded Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri are likely to be showpieces in this endeavor. Would such tourists not pass through the city on their way to the Marriott?
Holding of local government elections
I am for not one moment supportive of Government’s direct involvement in the affairs of the Council. Rather, I do believe that democratic norms should have been allowed to prevail a long time ago not only in respect of the Georgetown City Council but also all local democratic organs. Many of us would recall that during the 1994 local government elections, the ruling party threw its support behind the Good and Green Party headed by the current Mayor as a mechanism to keep the then People’s National Congress out. The arrangement brokered was one in which there would have been a rotating Mayor between this party and the current ruling party. However, for whatever reason(s), this arrangement never materialized, resulting in the current Mayor serving for most of the 20 years uninterrupted. Who is to blame? Why were local government elections not held 1997 and subsequently every three years after? Do we really consider ourselves a true democracy when local democracy is not allowed to flourish?
We are tired of all the excuses as to why such elections should not be held. The first was that the Elections Commission was not ready but the Commission acted quickly, and quite rightly, to dispel this notion. We were then told that citizens need first to be educated about the process. What is so difficult about these elections that necessitates such an education? Allowing for the benefit of the doubt, why then for 20 years, we did not see it fit to educate our citizens? It was only under pressure from various stakeholders and the international community that the issue of local government elections has now taken centre stage. Where do we go from here?
This brings us to the Leadership and Democracy (LEAD) Project which suffered the misfortune of being placed on hold pending further discussions between the Government and the United States Embassy. An integral part of the project relates to local democracy. According to the 2009 agreement between the Government and USAID, the parties agreed to: (a) support the implementation of local government reforms; (b) provide technical assistance and training for the capacity building for newly elected councillors and staff to improve local government operations; (c) develop and implement activities to build trust among local government bodies and citizens; and (d) support the formation of an association of local government bodies to represent local interests at the national level and achieve greater accountability to citizens. The project also envisages educating citizens in target communities about their civic rights and responsibilities.
Way Forward
The City Council fiasco has become unbearable for not only the citizens of Georgetown but also for all Guyanese. After all, we are talking about our capital city which is in a complete state of disrepair. Jostling for political control is a myopic notion, considering the urgent need to address the numerous problems facing the Council. Let the citizens of Georgetown exercise their democratic right to decide who amongst them should manage the affairs of the City on their behalf. In respect of Georgetown, I know of several persons with impeccable character and a high degree of professional and technical competence with no political affiliation, who are willing to step forward and serve, if elected.
Given what is currently playing out at City Hall, it is advisable for municipal elections to be held in Georgetown almost immediately while at the same time mechanisms are put in place for country-wide local government elections to be held as soon as possible thereafter.
