United States: Restoring Accountability
20 August 2023 By Abiodun Kareem Giwa
The scary image from Hawaii's Maui County
An appointed government official has resigned in Hawaii following the fire devastation and deaths. The officer, Herman Andaya, was Maui's administrator for emergency management. He gave health reasons. But observers say the guy must have seen ghosts from the more than 100 dead haunting him. And that it has come to having mass death to have accountability in public service. People ask how Andaya became Maui's emergency service administrator despite lacking requisite training or experience in emergency service.
Hawaii has set an excellent example of accountability. However, Andaya's resignation reportedly stemmed from health issues. But the news from Maui County shows that public officer who falls short of expectation should leave. Over 100 casualties and over 1000 still unaccounted for are more than a severe case. But would not this have been avoided if qualified personnel were at the helm?
Americans witnessed Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and would never have expected a repetition of dereliction. The report says Andaya needed to gain requisite qualifications or training in emergency management and needed more experience. Andaya is defending why the sirens remained mute from alerting people of the danger from the fire. And residents say activating sirens would have saved lives. One major lesson from Maui's tragedy is that negligible officials would maintain integrity with resignation before causing the innocent to bear the consequence.
Accountability is the keyword currently missing in the United States public office holders' orientation. Look at the Southern border, where asylum seekers enter the country uncontrolled. The secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, has perfected a manipulation, saying the entry point was perfect. Congress has threatened to impeach him. Yet, he insists the border is safe. Is the place truly secured, as claimed by Mayorkas?
If the border is safe, what about the homeland where asylum seekers escape? Mayor Eric Adams tells the story better about the effect of asylum seekers on the land. If we doubt Adams, do we also the state governor of Massachusetts's governor who has declared a state of emergency arising from uncontrollable migration from the Southern border? Are these elected officers from New New York and Massachusetts wrong and Mayorkas proper?
Political adversaries doubted the governor of Texas, but when the effect of a significant number, his state bused many migrants to other parts of the country should have made the federal government rush to Congress to seek a solution to the migration. Have we not heard their political associates crying out unintentionally, saying the Texas governor must have been right about the effect of the hell called an open border?
The issue here is that Mayorkas is still sitting tight, unmoved by the crisis from the Southern border. Mayorkas would have resigned if it were in the good old days when integrity mattered in public office—the secretary of Justice partners with him. Merrick Garland is swimming in the ocean of crisis surrounding the DOJ's handling of Hunter Biden's investigation and accusation of running a two-tier justice system - one for Democrats and another for Republicans. Consequent to the two-tier system, people say and maintain that one presidential candidate faces indictments from states he is not politically aligned, and the result of the other investigation is uncertain.
Do people have to die before public officers realize they have overstayed their welcome? Someone referred to Boris Johnson's case in the United Kingdom, whose resignation from office stemmed from the mishandling of allegations against his appointees. Is it different from the same ethics that governs public office globally?
Hawaii has set an excellent example of accountability. However, Andaya's resignation reportedly stemmed from health issues. But the news from Maui County shows that public officer who falls short of expectation should leave. Over 100 casualties and over 1000 still unaccounted for are more than a severe case. But would not this have been avoided if qualified personnel were at the helm?
Americans witnessed Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and would never have expected a repetition of dereliction. The report says Andaya needed to gain requisite qualifications or training in emergency management and needed more experience. Andaya is defending why the sirens remained mute from alerting people of the danger from the fire. And residents say activating sirens would have saved lives. One major lesson from Maui's tragedy is that negligible officials would maintain integrity with resignation before causing the innocent to bear the consequence.
Accountability is the keyword currently missing in the United States public office holders' orientation. Look at the Southern border, where asylum seekers enter the country uncontrolled. The secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, has perfected a manipulation, saying the entry point was perfect. Congress has threatened to impeach him. Yet, he insists the border is safe. Is the place truly secured, as claimed by Mayorkas?
If the border is safe, what about the homeland where asylum seekers escape? Mayor Eric Adams tells the story better about the effect of asylum seekers on the land. If we doubt Adams, do we also the state governor of Massachusetts's governor who has declared a state of emergency arising from uncontrollable migration from the Southern border? Are these elected officers from New New York and Massachusetts wrong and Mayorkas proper?
Political adversaries doubted the governor of Texas, but when the effect of a significant number, his state bused many migrants to other parts of the country should have made the federal government rush to Congress to seek a solution to the migration. Have we not heard their political associates crying out unintentionally, saying the Texas governor must have been right about the effect of the hell called an open border?
The issue here is that Mayorkas is still sitting tight, unmoved by the crisis from the Southern border. Mayorkas would have resigned if it were in the good old days when integrity mattered in public office—the secretary of Justice partners with him. Merrick Garland is swimming in the ocean of crisis surrounding the DOJ's handling of Hunter Biden's investigation and accusation of running a two-tier justice system - one for Democrats and another for Republicans. Consequent to the two-tier system, people say and maintain that one presidential candidate faces indictments from states he is not politically aligned, and the result of the other investigation is uncertain.
Do people have to die before public officers realize they have overstayed their welcome? Someone referred to Boris Johnson's case in the United Kingdom, whose resignation from office stemmed from the mishandling of allegations against his appointees. Is it different from the same ethics that governs public office globally?
Comment Form is loading comments...
