5th of November, 2022. Guyana, South America. GSA News. Guyana News.
Last updated: November 5, 2022 at 18:34 pm– urged to be ‘attentive’ to needs of electorate
Sixty-six toshaos and treasurers from Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and 10 on Thursday received certificates in leadership, following an extensive two-day training hosted by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. The leadership training was geared at providing village leaders with knowledge in specific areas to help them achieve their community development goals.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh and Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai presented the certificates to awardees at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
Dr Singh told leaders to be attentive to the needs of their electorate. He said it is for this reason, several government officials have been fanning out to various communities to get a picture of what are the priorities of citizens.
“We consider this to be part of accountable governance and accountable governance is good governance and in the same manner, you have an obligation constantly to be attentive to the priorities, problems, concerns, and views of the people you serve. We are, whether in central government or in a village council, we are servants of the people,” Minister Singh stated.
He said the theme for the programme, ‘Accountability for Good Governance’, is in keeping with government’s commitment to be accountable to citizens at all times.
“Accountability is all about us as elected leaders remaining accountable to those who elected us, the electorate. In the case of the central government, we are accountable to all of the citizens of Guyana. As elected leaders within your villages, you are accountable to all of the citizens and residents of your respective villages,” Minister Singh remarked.
Proper management of public resources, accountability for financial resources as well as assets, is a top priority of the PPP/C Government, Minister Singh added. The finance minister commended the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs for organising the training sessions, stating that the importance cannot be overemphasised.
Amerindian leaders were reminded that they are part of the transformation currently underway.
Meanwhile, DPI spoke to a few leaders and councillors on the impact the training will have on their communities.
Toshao of Pakuri Village, Region Four, Timothy Andrews said, “When I came into the position of Toshao, this is one thing that I have seen lacking in the administration, not only in my community, but across the country in Amerindian communities.
“So, I always have the belief that these are the initiatives that are needed, these are the programmes that are needed…so it’s something that we will all definitely benefit from as leaders and our treasurers and so on.”
Treasurer of the Great Falls Village Council, Linda Daniels commended the initiative. “It’s going to benefit me and my community because the training about accountability and responsibility, at least you know we learn more about honesty and being honest in everything we do and make sure our records must be in order… we thank the government for this training, at least it’s an exposure for me.”
Treasurer of Moraikobai, Lucia Andres relayed that she is satisfied that her community will benefit.
“It will benefit me and my community in a great deal because I believe it’s very essential for good governance and it will result very well in accounting, record keeping and throughout the community we wouldn’t have any breaches of the act or anything. We’ve learnt what we need to learn and we would try to practice it in our community.”
Similar training sessions will be rolled out in Regions One, Seven, Eight, Nine and 10 over the next few weeks. Some 440 toshaos and treasurers will participate.
Source: Department of Public Information
