President Bharrat Jagdeo fundamentally rejected his own proposal for a more inclusive governance framework a few days after elections by naming a Cabinet comprising people of mainly one ethnic grouping who are PPP/C supporters, civil society activist Eric Philips says.

Meanwhile, because of the high level of functional illiteracy among Guyanese of African descent and which is impacting on their economic status and political activism, Phillips has announced that he is working along with the African Cultural Development Association (ACDA) and others to establish libraries in many communities. Phillips has announced several initiatives to pilot an African renaissance including an African Business Council.

Speaking with Stabroek News recently on a number of issues, Phillips said that in his writings on shared governance which began prior to 1997 and which he would be making public, he is advocating the need to depoliticize the cabinet structures for effective inclusive or shared governance.

"You can't tell me that there aren't Africans and folks of other races who are better qualified than some of those in the Cabinet. In a shared governance structure we want the best qualified Guyanese to be ministers. We don't want politicians. If politicians happen to be the best persons to head a ministry then so be it," he said.

He said that shared governance means that the country has to deal with the issue of the executive presidency. Giving examples in which funds were disbursed without the sanction of parliament, especially in the run-up to the last general and regional elections, Phillips said that the President needs to be accountable to the parliament. He said that, "Right now the government is saying there is inclusive governance but there is no accountability to the people."

"People are seeing the African renaissance as something racist because they want to see it as that," he said adding that, "the only fundamental issue with the African renaissance bothering people is the issue of shared governance."

Functional illiteracy

The outspoken Phillips, who was at one time the deputy leader of the Reform component of the PNCR, said that under normal circumstances the country could have afforded to have politicians appointed to Cabinet positions but at present "the politicians we have aren't even bright enough. Look at what goes on in parliament. Some can't even speak. Those are the people you want to develop this country?"

Because of the high level of functional illiteracy, which has a serious impact on the political level, Phillips also announced that along with the ACDA and other organisations, they would be establishing libraries in almost every village with Afro-Guyanese.

He said that establishing libraries is part of "our social imperative to address the issue of functional literacy to get young people back to reading and writing."

If Guyanese want to get ahead in business, he said that they have to read and write.

He said that he has already started the process of collecting books together with ACDA and others, both domestically and internationally. The objective, he said, is to ensure that next year they would be able to start the process of dealing with literacy to mark the 200th anniversary of the passage of the Abolition of Slavery Act by the British.

While the libraries would be open to the public, Phillips said that it would target Guyanese African communities "because they have the biggest needs." (Miranda La Rose)