This morning I had a look at the video of Ralph Gonsalves getting booed at a funeral service in St. Vincent last week.
The funeral was that of a former Gonsalves ally, turned critic.
I felt that the behavior of the boo-ers might’ve been excessive, even improper, given the venue and the occasion.
However, I understand the indignation of the people who went there. They felt that Gonsalves paying tribute to the deceased was not only hypocritical, but also a desecration of the memory of the deceased (although Gonsalves had been approved by the family to say a few words), a desecration of the occasion, and a desecration of the House of the Lord.
Perhaps the boo-ers felt that they would use the occasion to be the voice of the deceased man. And perhaps they may have felt that the best and most fitting place to voice and to act out their righteous indignation was right there in the church. And right then.
After all, hadn’t Jesus Christ himself gone to the Temple to act out his indignation at people who had been desecrating it and turning it into a den of iniquity? The Bible says that Jesus went on ‘like a dirt bike’.
While there’ll be different views on the ‘Boo Gonsalves’ event, it’s clear to me that, notwithstanding his autocratic and grandiose approach to leadership, and despite the fact that St. Vincent & The Grenadines, like St. Kitts & Nevis, has a long way to go before it can be regarded as a true democracy, the boo-ers did what they did because the little piece of democracy that they do enjoy allowed them to make their noise and protest.
And to be absolutely clear, my impression is that the people of St. Vincent & The Grenadines understand that the piece of democracy that they do enjoy is not a gift from anyone to them. Instead, it’s a right, it’s something that they’ve had to make noise and fight for, and for which they’re prepared to continue to make noise and fight. They want more of it, and they’ll make the necessary noise and take the necessary action to get it.
What a beautiful thing!
I’m not taking sides in the politics of our sister nation. Just speaking to the noise of democracy that I’m hearing from her over the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. And I’m taking pride in that, as should every person who believes in real democracy.
In a full-blown dictatorial, totalitarian situation, there would’ve been no noise. Because silence is the people’s language in a dictatorship, while democracy nurtures, and needs, noise.
To their credit, the people of St. Vincent & the Grenadines have demonstrated, especially in the last few months or so, that they don’t play! And that when they’re ready to kick butt, they’ll kick butt!
They’re not as docile as we are. They don’t put up with as much crap as we do. And they don’t allow themselves to be trampled upon and degraded the way we do.
We may even hear more noise from them, when they find out, as we’re only now finding out, that between January, 2012, and July, 2014, a whopping 17,731 St. Kitts & Nevis passports not containing the holders’ places of birth/origin were issued.
That’s enough passports for about half of our resident population, and works out at 21 passports being issued each day, seven days a week, for two and a half years.
And that doesn’t include passports that had been issued prior to January, 2012
Why would this be a concern for the people of St. Vincent & The Grenadines?
Well, the answer is simple: Firstly, that country would be anxious for the same reason that the USA, Canada, England and other countries are anxious. And secondly, every citizen of St. Kitts & Nevis has pretty much the same rights in St. Vincent & The Grenadines as do citizens of that country, seeing that we’re both part of the single OECS space.
And if some, or many, of these new ‘no-place-of-origin’ Kittitians and Nevisians choose to settle in Kingstown or Castries or some other OECS town or village, then that could start another really big noise.
The disclosure of this information is certainly sufficient for Kittitians and Nevisians to start s a big noise, to ask questions, and to demand an audit and a full report.
And there are many other good reasons for our people to make noise for democracy.
We’ve discussed them.
Of that lot, I’ll raise just one, then I’ll share a new one with you, and you can decide whether this is the last straw that will now break the back of your collective silence and force you to make a noise for true democracy in our land.
The old one: our electoral system is a constituency based system. For such a system to make sense and to be effected, people have to register where they live. And electoral officials have to understand that, and to apply the law strictly and accordingly.
But we know this isn’t happening. People are being escorted to the electoral office with pr-ordained and orchestrated constituencies to be registered in, although they have absolutely to residential connection, or legal justification for being registered, there.
Some people are even being registered in absentia, which is also not allowed.
But it’s easy to fix. And here’s how: make every applicant for registration present two or three utility bills or other documentary evidence to prove where they live, and then make them swear an affidavit upon registering, stating that they actually reside where they’re registering.
And give every already registered voter three months to provide the same affidavit)provided by the electoral office where a commissioner for oaths would be posted.
Then monitor and enforce!
Here’s the new item.
You know the old saying: you start from the bottom and work your way to the top.
Well, while that applies in most cases, it does not in the case of privilege.
One of Douglas’ new candidates recently formed a company to provide corporate services. And in a virtual jiffy, his company was given, all, or most, or a substantial amount of, the economic citizenship applications for the proposed Range Development.
At, say US$10,000.00 per application, if his company does twenty a month, that’s US$200,000.00 a month.
A quick route to plenty money.
I’m not imputing any wrongdoing to anybody referred to here. I’m only asking questions and making the noise of democracy.
Is this part of his reward for being a Douglas candidate? Did Douglas influence Range to give the work to the new candidate’s new company? Did the candidate’s father, who is also the Chairman of National Bank and one of Douglas’ closest allies, have a role to play? Or did the new candidate’s months’ old company, entirely on its own, so impress Range and the other players in the project, that it won their confidence and their business?
Again, without seeking to impute any compromising of integrity of any person, it’s to be noted that his company’s applications go for processing to the office headed up by his aunt.
Range started a hotel project in Iraq some years ago. It may be their only project. And I’m told it’s not yet done.
But what’s really worrisome is the Iranian connections of Range, and the fact that at least one company involved in the project is on the US Treasury Department’s banned list for money laundering.
There could be some very serious consequences.
And this weekend, the mule who travels between Basseterre and Dubai, is coming to collect more passports from the company and to hand over fresh application forms. Then off she goes again.
The Dubai mule is very close to the new candidate and to Douglas.
I’m making my share of the noise for democracy. What are you doing?
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