Coming to terms with a man of no grace!
IT
MIGHT have been sometime in 2009, there were consistent reports that the
relatively new National Democratic Congress government might be moving on a
threat to arrest Keith Mitchell for alleged corruption.
The
reports of the pending arrest were so strong, I began to worry they might be
credible. And then I began to worry about another thing, that we are using
our legal system to hound our opponents.
I
was getting the feeling that the prosecutors here did not have any airtight
case to move forward.
I
started calling around – ranting and raving; almost threatening – “you all cannot
go down that route.”
Not only did I not believe that such a move will irreparably divide a society; but also, that everyone – even someone we just beat up in an election campaign, and who lost – deserved some grace.
I shall keep coming backing to the issue of grace – and how the dispensation of it does not have to survive a political litmus test. Especially in a small society such as ours.
But this is also snippets of a man who has partially successfully masked his cold irreverence and calculated heartlessness, as somewhat a champion of the “poor and vulnerable.”
Exploring the issue of grace – or lack of it -- let’s go back to Garvey Louison, who was the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance in the early 2000s I think.
Garvey
is the brother of Einstein Louison, who himself at the time was the Minister of
National Security in the Prime Minister’s office.
Einstein went home one day to find his little brother in tears. And he heard
right there for the first time, about the firing of Garvey.
Today I am not even sure what the real story was behind his termination – but I remember what shocked me at the time – was how Einstein – your go-to person– was not shown – forget courtesy – but at least grace.
But it gets worse. Years later Einstein Louison fell sick – and, even to this day, the Prime Minister has never gone to see him because they had fallen out.
He never thought ‘Stein deserved any grace.
Fast forward to the beginning of Keith’s last term – when a youth supporter, questioned (truthfully rightly so), his administration’s lack of a real empowerment strategy for youth.
He felt she was out of place, and some of his enforcers, taking a cue from him began hounding the young lady.
And so naturally she began to become bolder in social media statements about politics and policy.
And so – from the highest office in the land – they moved against this struggling young mother of three – to lose her job -- because she was “too fresh” to offer an opinion – albeit a bold one – in a democratic society.
I remember one minister, literally in tears begging her boss and everyone else who will listen to leave the lady alone. To show her some grace.
Why? She has children in school and her loss of income will badly affect them.
She, however soon did not have a job.
The highest people in this land refused to show her children some grace.
The story of Ruel Edwards was one that haunts me.
Edwards was a man, who helped draft aspects of the 2018 manifesto, and was even seen as a potential candidate one day.
There was/is rightfully a debate about his tenure at MNIB. He was then transferred to the Ministry of Finance, where, from all reports, he was doing very good technical work.
There were people there who for some reason might have felt threatened by him. The Prime Minister was “worked on.”
He then called a press conference – without any alert to the man in question or his family who were close to him – or his cabinet colleagues or his communication consultants -- and openly blasted someone, throwing innuendos and announcing an investigation into the man (something as it turned out he could not do).
In Reul’s most difficult moments, he was shown no grace.
While openly grumbling about his Minister of Trade at the time (Oliver Joseph), a move was made to move his son from -- rightly or wrongly based on who tells the story. But Joseph heard it after the fact from his son; without him being given a heads-up by his boss.
As awkward as it might have been, Oliver Joseph would have deserved to be shown some grace.
I was in the Prime Minister’s office when my sister suddenly died. She was taken to the hospital in an ambulance; spent three days in a bed and never saw a doctor.
I called around trying to find answers. Never got any credible response – not from the CMO; not from the Minister of Health; not from my “boss”.
No show at the funeral; not to this day an “accept my sympathy.”
I just could have done with a little bit of grace.
Just a few months ago – Nielon Franklyn was still an NNP senator. His father died. Franklyn’s political leader refused to attend the funeral on the basis that his old man was never a supporter of him.
Even in time of grief, the Right Honorable did not bring himself to show grace.
Grace
was not dispensed to Pamela Moses, who was in his cabinet as recently as two and
a half years ago.
And what is showing grace? It is not condoning anything. Not supporting anything.
It is showing goodwill.
Reynold Benjamin was shown no grace. Warren Neufield was shown no grace. Grace Duncan was shown no grace. Kindra Mathurine-Stewart was shown no grace. Bert Brathwaite was shown no grace. Cletus St Paul was shown no grace. Senator Katisha Douglas was shown no grace. (The hits keep on coming, right?)
Why do you all think that Peter David will be shown any grace?
