The square peg legacy

Oct 15, 2026 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

(Kaieteur News) – Burnham’s dream of ‘Guyanization’—a euphemism for replacing the colonial administrative class with locals loyal to the new order was, at its core, a nationalist ideal. But ideals without discipline often lead to farce. The result was a bureaucracy filled with incompetents, party hacks, and ideologues. The state became bloated, inert, and suffocating.

Related coveragePPP Government Faces Renewed Criticism Over Governance, Accountability And Public Services15 reports

Burnham, it is said, later confided in private that many of those to whom he had entrusted power had failed him. They were square pegs in round holes, men and women without administrative temperament or managerial ability. Some were gifted only in sycophancy. And yet he could not remove them. He had created a patronage machine and he was now trapped within it. The sugar boom gave the illusion of prosperity for a while, but the gloss wore off. When the lean years came, Burnham had ideas but few competent lieutenants to implement them. The machinery of the state creaked, groaned, and ultimately broke down.