Delinquent public service employees must refocus or resign– Claude O. Skelton-Cline
This is according to social commentator and Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline, who on his radio programme Honestly Speaking on May 20, 2025, lambasted what he described as a culture of fear and inaction within the civil service, driven in part by the lingering effects of the recent Commission of Inquiry (CoI).
Fear & Insecurity
“The public service has become a fourth estate in this country. A non-elected fourth estate. And it’s structurally having a paralysing effect on any elected government – but particularly this one,” Skelton-Cline declared.
Directly correlating the dysfunction to the post-Commission of Inquiry (CoI) environment, he suggested “...the CoI is designed to put us in a state of fear and insecurity; Public officers, out of fear, consternation, trepidation – and some of you might be having constipation – are not doing what you know needs to be done to build your country.”
According to Skelton-Cline, “Most of our public officers are good, hardworking, want to see the country built but you’re stuck in a system that has been infested with the currency of fear and insecurity that have left you paralysed.”
Clarifying that he was not advocating for unethical or illegal behaviour, he said, “Nobody, I don’t believe, would be asking any public officer to do anything unethical, much less illegal – just do your job and do it efficiently and do it effectively so that your country can advance.”
With this in mind, he warned those who felt overwhelmed or reluctant to serve that they should instead reconsider their roles within the government machinery.
Rethink, Refocus or Resign
“If it is that you think that this is too much for you and you don’t want to be involved, then dismiss yourself from the job. Ask them to move you somewhere else. But don’t become a hindrance.”
He suggested, “Those of you who need to pull your pants up, pull your skirt up, pull whatever up, pull it up. Those of you who think that this has become too much for you – retire, ask to be relocated, move somewhere else.”
The clergyman in his monologue argued vehemently that members of the public service, “...are not part of the fourth estate, you're there to complement and to complete with the work of each other; Even if you don’t see eye to eye, you must still work hand in hand.”
According to Skelton-Cline, “We must rethink, refocus, reclaim the narrative of this country. Stop living in a space and a place of fear and insecurity; Things as they are do not have to be the way that they are. Don’t you understand? What’s happening now is the desired result. We must change the narrative.”
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