IN TIMES LONG GONE, men of great honour but lesser competence would fall on their swords when they severely failed their constituents. However in 2015, they stand for re-election.
It was with some horror that I read in your newspaper of the re-election of Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron to the position of president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
While I had heard that for various reasons, Cameron had established a lead in early polling, I thought that common sense would eventually prevail and that the constituent “territorial” boards of the WICB would realise that they could not endorse the ineptitude displayed by Mr Cameron in his handling of the tragic Indian tour and capped off by his mean re-tweet of a fan’s comments about Chris Gayle.
Alas, I gave too much credit to those boards, and Mr Cameron romped to victory by eight votes to four. In a world of increasing employment uncertainty, the post of WICB president must be the most secure job on the planet.
The continuing farce of the WICB has long ceased to be humorous. However, it does cast a floodlight on serious issues that we face in the Caribbean which prevent our meaningful development across the region.
1) Our definition of leadership has warped to embolden people who are predominantly incompetent but are outstandingly political to view themselves as being fit to govern.
2) Leadership alternatives are few, often leading electorates to choose between the “better” of poor candidates or simply to choose the one who offers us the largest gains personally in return for our allegiance.
3) Accountability is rare. Any attempt at such is often scorned as a personal attack first, rather than as an exercise in seeking truth and responsibility.
4) Those in leadership do not know when to bow out. In island after island, in politics and in business, we see repetition of these issues, regionally summarised by the goings-on of the WICB.
I cannot imagine the hubris of Mr Cameron to see himself as fit to continue as West Indies president. It is also a failing of the board that Mr Cameron was not fired considering similar action was taken against Dwayne Bravo whether that was for his involvement in the Indian tour abandonment or for his purported lack of results on the field.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India must be in bewilderment that we in this region could allow the re-election of Dave Cameron. That election would have further cemented external perceptions of the Caribbean as a place of disorganisation and poor governance.
To emerge from this fiasco, we need to attract the best to manage the affairs of West Indies cricket. For example, Sir Hilary Beckles’ candidacy should be encouraged in the future, he having led the other notable regional institution with some degree of success.
To attract the best and disentangle the WICB from the current dysfunctional culture, it may be necessary to allow the board in its current form to terminate in bankruptcy so that a brighter organisation can emerge.
Hopefully, that organisation would take the form of a Caribbean company, owned by the public and answerable to a broader group, in order to promote some level of corporate responsibility.
I sincerely pray that Mr Cameron does the honourable thing. To spare him any fear involved with utilising a sword to do what is needed, I am reminded that the pen is mightier. So all he has to do is pick one up and sign his resignation, for our collective relief.
– MICHAEL LUCAS
