By Lesroy W. Williams
Tivoli Gardens, where fierce gun battles between the Jamaican Security Forces and criminal gang members over the arrest of ‘The President’, Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, has long been known in Jamaica as “The Mother of All Garrisons”.
Coke, labeled as one of the most dangerous narcotics and firearms traffickers worldwide by the US Justice Department, is wanted in New York to stand trial on gun and drug trafficking charges.
So far, he has evaded authorities and the present attempts to find and arrest him have proven to be a futile exercise. Some are even speculating that he has already fled the country.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding came under fire after admitting that he had given permission to his Jamaica Labour Party to contract a United States law firm, Manatt, Phelps and Phillip, to look into the extradition request by the US for Dudus, arguing that the US had obtained their evidence through illegal wiretapping.
Mr. Golding had repeatedly denied that that his government had contracted the US law firm, prompting calls for his resignation in what was perceived as Golding’s betrayal of the public trust.
In the face of heightened calls for his resignation, Mr. Golding announced that he would sign the extradition request for Dudus.
Close to 50 persons, including members of the Security Forces, are reported to have lost their lives and the numbers are expected to rise; schools and businesses have been closed; hospital staff has been overburdened in caring for persons with gun-shot wounds; police stations have been firebombed; over 500 persons detained and a limited state of emergency has been declared in certain areas of Kingston by the Jamaican Government because of the social unrest.
But the situation playing out right now in West Kingston - the constituency of Prime Minister Bruce Golding - did not come to be overnight.
The nexus between politics and community leaders or area dons, as they are called, has been a longstanding and mutually beneficial one in Jamaica.
Politicians often rely on these very dons to garner the votes that they need to win in their constituencies and it is widely believed that the dons’ money is used to finance their political campaigns. This leads to a compromise of the politician’s integrity and literally makes him a puppet of the don.
Almost every ghetto community in Jamaica has its don, whose rise to prominence commands the respect and fear of politicians and people alike.
The dons wield enormous power because they are able to provide for many people in their communities who are deprived of employment, education, and the basic necessities of life because of poverty - services that should be provided by the government.
It’s of little importance to community members how the dons get their money, ill-gotten or otherwise. What they know is that their dire needs are taken care of in some way and that they are indebted to the man who protects and takes care of them.
It is no wonder then that many see Dudus as a type of messiah, who has put bread on their tables and helped to send their children to school among other things.
But there is a darker side to these dons. Much of their money comes from gun and drug trafficking and extortion. This side is often ignored by many who are benefitting from the help of the don, albeit his money and power is tied to corrupt practices.
Dudus follows in the footsteps of his father, Lester Lloyd Coke, better known as Jim Brown, who was the reputed gang leader of the Shower Posse in West Kingston. It is said that Jim Brown was the right hand man of former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, who was the Member of Parliament for West Kingston before Prime Minister Bruce Golding took over the seat.
Mr. Brown was seen as a “godfather” and “protector” of the people of West Kingston. When he died mysteriously in a prison fire in 1992 before he could be extradited to the US, then Prime Minister Edward Seaga led his funeral.
The garrison is a sort of closed community with its own rule of law. People are tried in kangaroo courts and penalized. The don is seen as chief prosecutor and he tries to maintain order and secure his area - often times through the use of his henchmen, who do not hesitate to use the gun.
Dudus allegedly operates two gangs spread across different communities, the One Order Gang and the Presidential Clique.
As the search for him intensifies, members of these gangs will be prepared to die as “martyrs” for their “god”, while the image and reputation of Jamaica abroad is tarnished.
There are serious repercussions for the Jamaican economy as perhaps many will be deterred from travelling to the island paradise because of images of it being a war zone, even though the violence is concentrated in specific pockets.
But if corruption is to be stamped out of Jamaica, the politics of the garrison must be dismantled and the government must be seen to play a more active role in alleviating the socio-economic problems of the society.
As Prime Minister Bruce Golding said in his message to the nation: “This will be a turning point for us as a nation to confront the powers of evil that have penalized the society and earned us the unenviable label as one of the murder capitals of the world.”
However, there is a lot of work to be done in achieving this.
