Since 1982, when the current Constitution came in effect, Anguilla has been increasingly under-led, mismanaged and over-manipulated by our political leaders. While all this was going on, Anguillians in general seemed to have been either unaware, or too busy to care or hoped that things would eventually turn out well. Others became silent accomplices because of temporary material benefits or special privilege. A few persons sounded a note of alarm but it was ignored. Everyone with common sense or experience knows that every decision, action or choice has definite consequences and, usually, the link between the decision and the consequence can be seen. Anguilla’s present crisis is due in very large measure to the bad decisions and failures of politicians over the years.
The main functions of leadership in any nation or organization is to ensure that there is a clearly defined vision which is understood and embraced by all the stakeholders. This vision then informs and governs all the programmes, decisions, activities of that nation or organization. Most unfortunately, such a process of visioning has not taken place in any meaningful way in Anguilla since the Revolution. In fact, it was not done at all, and this has been the major failure of the political leadership of the AUF and the AUM to this date. Do you know what is the most revolutionary vision for Anguilla? No wonder we are perishing today, as the Bible warns: “Where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). You see, a vision tells us how we are going.
It is very interesting to note that the Revolution was born, sustained, fought and won because it was empowered by a definite and clear vision. That vision is stated in the memorandum of the first delegation, which comprised of Rev. C. Leonard Carty, Rev. Martin C Roberts, Mr. C. Walton Fleming and Mr. Peter Adams, to the Governor in St. Kitts, dated May 31, 1967. It reads: What do Anguillians want? Self-determination. This is the desire of no less than 99 percent of the people … What they now want is SEPARATION FROM ST. KITTS. They want a process set in motion now which will give them this SEPARATION AND SELF DETERMINATION within 12 months. By the end of this time they want to be a state in association with Britain … In the interim, what do they want?
(1) Direct administration from Britain under an administrator appointed by Her Majesty’s Government. This they want with all haste.
(2) Immediately following the appointment of such an administrator, a general election in the island to constitute a council. This in fact means that they want a large measure of self-rule.
This is as clear as you can get it. Because of this clarity, that goal was understood and embraced by everyone. There would not have been any success without it. The many challenges which the people and leaders of the time faced were deemed insignificant compared with the goal to be achieved. This is the power of vision. One by one these obstacles were overcome and the vision eventually became the reality.
The great failure of our leaders since then has been the absence of a vision for Anguilla. What has been substituted by the political parties which developed is personal greed and selfishness, the enrichment of self, family and friends, and the promotion of “partyism”. These have given rise to the rancor and bitter criticism of the AUF by the AUM and vice versa, and the polarization of Anguilla. This rancor, bitterness and disunity have not contributed to our progress. Instead, they have greatly impeded progress and threaten our survival as a viable island. It is now time for change so we can rally around a meaningful vision and move Anguilla to a better place where we can all have a chance to succeed. Has any of the two traditional parties hammered out and documented a vision to guide Anguilla into the future? The answer is “no”. It is important to note that the vision has to be a collaborative effort. It has to be the vision for Anguilla and not that of any one party.
It is most unfortunate and shameful that the AUM and the AUF leadership of Anguilla, since the Revolution era, has caused the island to be simply limping along without an empowering vision of where Anguilla should be going. The result is that as an island we have been spinning like a “yo-yo”, from AUM to AUF and from AUF to AUM, but really not going forward.
Any objective indepth analysis of Anguilla today will leave you very concerned, very disappointed, and very disturbed. In some respects we are only marginally better off than we were prior to 1982. But in many other respects we are worse off, and farther from the Revolution’s goal of “self-determination and prosperity”. It turns out to be utter nonsense to spew out hot air about independence when almost everything that is done and the decisions made are designed for party gain and personal profit instead of nation-building. This all points clearly to mismanagement and manipulation. Where is the viable vision that informs and inspires your decision-making, your choices and your actions? No vision means no real progress.
I repeat: Having a clearly expressed vision is absolutely necessary for effective leadership, efficient management and national progress. Absence of this vision has resulted in ineffective leadership and inefficient management under both the AUF and the AUM administrations for the last thirty or so years. This failure, coupled with leadership which is personality oriented and driven by the win-lose paradigm, meant that Anguilla could not benefit as fully as possible during the so-called “years of plenty”. Actually, nothing was done to enhance the ongoing viability and progress of Anguilla, and that is why we are experiencing the economic downturn so severely. When leadership fails the country suffers, and the greater the failure means the greater the suffering.
We, of the DOVE Party, have seen this failure and its negative results very clearly, and we are committed and determined to address it creatively. Visionary and effective leadership coupled with efficient management, the win-win strategy, and the spirit of collaboration, will mean a new day for Anguilla.
Doctors Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, in their book “Leaders” assert that “the articulation of the vision is a main function of leadership.” Looking back, since 1982 that function has not been performed by the AUF or the AUM, and this has been a very great disservice to Anguilla . There can be no failure worse than the failure to perform your main duty. By so failing, the leadership of the AUM and AUF have forfeited their right to continue as national leaders. The Authors go on to say: “A vision that articulates a view of a realistic, credible, attractive future …a condition that is better in some important ways than what now exists… is a target that beckons.” Now, because a vision always refers to a desired future state, which never existed before and does not now exist, whenever it is clearly stated, it “provides a bridge to the future.” Without this bridge Anguilla will remain stuck in one place and will go backwards, as we are beginning to see.” Let me quote the authors again as they speak about the fundamental role a vision plays in an organization or nation: “… a vision is so central to success … When the organization has a clear sense of its purpose, direction and desired future state, and when this image is widely shared, individuals are able to find their own roles, both in the organization and in the larger society of which they are a part. This empowers individuals and confers status upon them because they can see themselves as part of a worthwhile enterprise. They gain a sense of importance, as they are transformed from robots blindly following instructions, to human beings – engaged in a creative and purposeful venture… A shared vision of the future also suggests measures of effectiveness for the organization and all its parts. It helps individuals distinguish what is good and what is bad in the organization and what is worthwhile to want to achieve (pp 90f).
The real power of a vision, when it is stated and shared, lies in the fact that it is understood and therefore embraced by the people as being “right” for them and “right for their times.” It is this sense of “rightness” which fuels hope, persuasion, enthusiasm and commitment to the vision among the people, and energizes them for action.
Unfortunately, for many people in Anguilla today, there is a very strong sense that “something is wrong.” This sense of “wrongness” is seen as gross unfairness, corruption, injustice, abuse, favouritsim, and growing poverty. This in turn has given birth to a crippling spirit of hopelessness and despair which expresses itself in crime and violence, disrespect and disregard for law and order. It is at its worst when disrespect and disregard are seen among the lawmakers.
In such a situation and context, there is little enthusiasm for anything else but survival among many. This woeful state of affairs is the direct result of the gross failure of the governments of the two traditional parties, over thirty years or so, to hammer out a vision for Anguilla. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to believe that they will do so in the future. This is why there must be a real change in the leadership of Anguilla if Anguillians are to have a real chance at prosperity and progress. The next election, then, is about the future of Anguilla. Empty unrealistic promises will achieve nothing, as they have done in the past.
The vision cannot be established by coercion or legislation, or by the exercise of power or by a pronouncement. Neither should it be offered once and then allowed to fade. It must be repeated again and again, each time being revised and updated as necessary in light of new circumstances. It must also be incorporated in the nation’s culture and constitution and reinforced through the strategy and decision- making process. If the vision is made to come alive, the people will also come alive to it. But alas! What are our leaders doing about this all important vision? Nothing! Nothing! But listen to them in the House of Assembly, on the radio, and on the political podium. All you hear is cussing, name-calling, blaming, etc. Ask them, “Where is the vision for Anguilla going forward?” Let them know, “No vision, no vote.”
We can give several instances where the failure of the governments of the two traditional parties to lead Anguilla well has hindered true human development and stagnated national progress. We can point to the following: The crumbling health services, the broken water system, the very high cost of electricity while energy from the sun, wind and waste remain untapped, our heavy dependence on personnel from outside to provide necessary skills and expertise while many Anguillians remain untrained or have been forced to reside abroad, etc., etc. However, we will highlight only one.
The AUF and the AUM governments have failed the citizens and residents of Anguilla in a BIG, BIG way. Both of them have failed to provide the leadership necessary, and they have hindered the process that would have ensured an updated and modernized Constitution that would be better for Anguilla. We can only guess that they did this because they see the present Constitution, with all its shortcomings, as beneficial to them in some way. They probably prefer to have the power concentrated in the hands of a few, and they see the recycling of the AUF and the AUM in the “yo-yo” fashion facilitated by it.
It is nothing short of shame and disgrace that after fifteen years, and four attempts, Anguilla is still saddled with the 1982 Constitution which enshrines, to a very large degree, “one man rule”, which pays lip-service to democracy, which denies real legitimate authority to the elected representative of the people, and which establishes a system of governance where tensions and/or conflicts are inevitable. All the politicians of the AUF and AUM administration who allowed the present Constitution to continue unchanged for all these years have forfeited their moral legitimacy to continue as national leaders.
As a member of the DOVE team, I assure you that a DOVE Party leadership and administration will do its best to ensure that a uniting and empowering vision will be hammered out, articulated and shared, and then enshrined in a modernized Constitution as matters of priority. A national vision is essential to having a dynamic Anguilla. A secret plan, or a partisan vision, is not good enough and will not do.
So we come back to the fundamental quotation: What is the vision for Anguilla? The AUF has none and the AUM has none. But the question is very important. Where do we want Anguilla to be in five years time? In ten years time? In fifteen years time? If this question is ignored, and there is no vision to beckon, inspire and guide us to a brighter future and a better place, we will continue to “wander in the desert” and, as the Good Book says: “The people will perish” due to being under-led, mismanaged and over-manipulated. What will happen? As a people we will most likely become more and more manipulated, marginalized, dispossessed, de-empowered, emasculated, violent, indisciplined, lawless and subjugated.
This may sound scary and some of you may be quite dismissive of that prospect. However, the realistic nature in me constrains me to sound the warning note. It is the possibility of this bleak prospect which makes the next general election, and the next generation of national leaders, so crucial and important. I plead with you, the people, not to simply follow the traditional way of voting. Indeed, you definitely need a new kind of leadership. Anguilla today needs leaders who will be transformational. Leaders who will dare to make a meaningful difference; Leaders with the courage to change what needs changing. Up to now, our leaders have been transactional. They are comfortable with the status quo – the same old, same old. Look where we are as a result: under-led and perishing. Be smart! Next time, choose wisely; choose leaders who are principled-centered, win-win oriented, visionary and transformational, and you will be well led into prosperity.
