Politicos Flaunt Their Power

by Andrew Allen

Recently, the Commissioner of Police reaffirmed his office's determination to continue the crackdown against individual policemen who abuse their power and embarrass the force. This emphasis on bringing to justice those policemen who fall foul of their duties is a commendable new direction on the part of the force's leadership.

But, unfortunately, the problem of policemen abusing their powers and behaving in a corrupt or aggressive manner towards members of the public is by no means an isolated problem. It is part of a deep cultural problem that finds expression at the highest level of the Bahamian public service.

Too many of those with public power in The Bahamas are eager to show it, presumably lest it be overlooked. It is part of the same cultural phenomenon that causes those with money (and even many of those without) to seek to display it by building implausibly large homes as close to the public road as possible - minimum comfort, maximum visibility.

But unlike private homeowners, the actions of public servants, especially elected ones, reflect on us all, whether we like it or not.

Anyone unfortunate enough to be driving through town at around the time our prime minister goes to lunch will have witnessed a spectacle that is an embarrassment to all thinking Bahamians: a loud convoy led by bullyish policemen on motorcycles pushing motorists aside so the chief can pass on his way to some mundane appointment.

Imagine for a minute that you are shopping in Super Value or Kelly's at the Mall at Marathon. You are just going about your daily business buying what you need - and in the process keeping the company afloat. All of a sudden, the chairman of the company comes bustling through, led by two burly young men who, by their grimaces and aggressive gestures, let ordinary shoppers know that it is time to step aside, because "the big man reach".

As the chairman is hurried through to meet his lunch engagement, shoppers get back to buying the goods that ultimately pay the salary of both him and his burly cronies.

Sound ludicrous? It should. But to anyone not accustomed to the Bahamian political psychology it sounds no more ludicrous than the behaviour of Prime Ministers and their cronies on the roads of our capital.

These public servants, who live at the expense and the leisure of the public, see nothing wrong with having their police cronies "clear the road" of members of that same public so that they can pass on their way to lunch.

"Clearing the road" is of course a euphemism. What actually happens is that mothers on their way to collect children, workers on their way to the office and the service vehicles that keep this island running are all shunted to the side so that the PM's procession can be made as conspicuous as possible. With loud, annoying horns, members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force seek to intimidate those motorists who appear insufficiently awed by the mere presence of their chief.

Seeing the whole thing, it is easy to suspect that, as with the police force, politics in the Bahamas continues to be attractive to precisely the wrong kinds of people partly on account of the aggressive displays of power that it involves. It is a natural home for those who feel the need to flaunt their office at any time they come into contact with members of the public.

It isn't like that everywhere. Living in West London, I lost count of the times I saw the likes of Michael Heseltine, William Waldegrave or other senior ministers idling in traffic (or even sitting in underground trains reading the newspaper) on their way to cabinet. Like everyone else, they just adapt to the inconveniences of living in a city.

In Scandinavia, more government ministers go to work by bicycle than in cars. In doing so, they send the message that the society they have created is one with which they are at ease, requiring no special treatment or isolation. They also send the message that service, and not privilege, is the essence of public office.

By contrast, in Haiti, Iraq and most of the worst run parts of Africa, those with power seem to see their status as naught unless they are able to throw it in other people's faces wherever they go.

For them, public service is not an opportunity to help create a better, more progressive and well-run society, but rather an entrée to the perks of petty chieftainship.

If this is indeed a world of two camps, then many, many of our visitors know instantly how to categorise The Bahamas when they see our prime minister's daily procession to his lunch break.

Prime minister, it is time you stopped your cronies embarrassing both yourself and our country, by drawing daily, public attention to this most primitive reaction to power that has somehow entrenched itself in the Bahamian psyche. As a keen junkanooer, you should reserve your "rushing through the crowd" for two special days of the year.

Comments

[Rick Lowe]

This is an excellent column Andrew.
I put this down to our small country complex.