OPINION: Chris Ram as the diplomat, then deteriorating to a doormat

Last Updated on Monday, 6 November 2023, 6:56 by Denis Chabrol

By GHK Ĺall

Mr. Chris Ram wrote a letter in Stabroek News that was captioned, “Erosion of accountability, rule of law and democracy” (SN November 01, 2023).  The dilemma is whether to congratulate or criticize Mr. Ram, who has now apparently added subtle diplomacy to his rich accountancy and attorney portfolios.  The best I come up with is that he is deserving of a posting to the Court of St James, where the English Language and its nuances reign supreme; if that is asking too much, then the pedestrian UN will have to suffice.  If I were PPP Government decisionmakers, that is precisely what would be extended to Mr. Ram, for in so doing a thorn in the ear, and a pain in the eye (let’s keep things civil today), would be put out to a distant pasture.  What trouble could he, or anybody, cause from such calm waters?

Truth be told, I never knew Mr. Ram had such tactfulness inside; and, oh yes, oodles of graciousness too.  But the problem that he created for himself with that Commission of Inquiry into the Mahdia Dormitory tragedy was that he set his expectations too high.  As an accountant and auditor of decades vintage, a healthy level of cynicism is helpful; and if that pushes his buttons too hard, then some skepticism would have saved him some precious years.  He knows Guyanese more than I ever could.  Hence, his disappointment is a bit on the misplaced side regarding where the matter of the Mahdia Commission of Inquiry slammed the shop door shut (jarringly) in the face of the Amerindian community and the wider Guyanese citizenry.  After all the years in the snake pit that is political Guyana, Mr. Ram really ought to have his marbles about him, and all accounted for, to put on my own reckoning cap.  He has to manage his expectations better.

Commissions of this kind, in these circumstances, are built for a certain smooth degree of fluidity from the starting gate.  They know when to say no.  No! to more people who may talk too much (or not recall anything, remember the Linden shootings?).  No to more answers that may fall suspiciously short, and which could give watchers ideas about people and their testimony.  No to more going through of the motions for the record, and simply getting on with bringing down the curtain on another dilapidated chapter in Guyanese life.  To digress momentarily, I did note that the minister made a voluminous, spirited defense; defensive it was, indeed.  By my thinking, a little word of empathy for the 20 young victims could have been squeezed in some form or fashion in that ministerial missive that must have used by many man hours, costing the taxpayers another bundle.

A man of the caliber of Chris Ram should know that even stupid governments are neither daft nor dumb.  Certainly not the PPP Government, which is many things, but of which stupid is not one.  For Mr. Ram’s education there is this American wisdom: get the right people, and the job is done: no loose ends, no surprise endings.  Commissions are neither Hardy Boys mysteries nor Harry Potter.  This is serious stuff, and for people with cast-iron stomachs.  Oh well, some government people escape accountability (I remember that word from somewhere, but from where and who eludes….), and carryon some more.  Others can sit back with a smirk and shrug on a job well done, and wait for the next call and the next assignment.  It should be to hell on the Concorde.  I believe in benbenevolence.

Now it is my heavy duty to call out Mr. Ram.  He did wrong in that UG class.  He went too far.  He decided poorly.  He failed to maintain the nerveless equilibrium and the clinical contours of the law that he knows, which he imparts.  The audio evidence is irrefutable.  Therefore, this duty must be done, notwithstanding agreement on many major issues and their management in this country.  I disagree with his expressions and the manifestations of his inner conditions.  If I cannot hold a brother citizen accountable, then what yardstick would I have left to press for honesty and a certain standard of duty from those who sit in the seat of government?  To make this sparkle with a certain light, if I can only agree with Pope Francis, then where would it be in me to disagree with President Ali (or one of the other fellas)?

I think that Mr. Ram overreached and underachieved.  He knew better, but did less.  An apology would be in order.  He should steel himself for whatever ‘administrative’ terminal point may be seen fit in the circumstances.  Forget about context, the possibly mitigatory.  I see none.  Forget about the law imitating life, political life, of which so much could be said, all dirty.  Mr. Ram should set an example of falling on his sword, which is something sorely needed in this society from those responsible for many failures, lapses in judgement, and worse.  Do what is required, Mr. Ram, and right a wrong.  Blunt the hatchets.  Show them how it is done.  Take responsibility, and let the chips fall wherever and however they do.