By Earle Clarke, 10th June, 2017.

“Men of genuine excellence in every station in life, men of industry, of integrity, of high principle, of sterling honesty of purpose—command the spontaneous homage of mankind. It is natural to believe in such men, to have confidence in them. All that is good in the world is upheld by them and, without their presence in it, the world would not be worth living in: Martin Luther King jnr.

Dear reader: I would like to encourage you to borrow a magnifying glass or borrow your neighbour’s thick lensed glasses to assist me in the search for the materials of which our present day leader is made, so that we can conclude unanimously, why there is, cannot be, and will never be any positive development in the Federation of St. Kitts-Nevis. On numerous occasions I have advised my readers that we all give off vibrations of positivity or negativity and these vibrations are easily picked up by those with whom we come into contact. We should also be aware that our actions of yesterday could affect us negatively or positively tomorrow, so that we have to be careful about what we say and do today.

As we look at the antics of our leader yesterday, we observe a man who was impregnated with personal ambition and who played people against people like in a game of chess, in order to achieve that personal ambition of becoming the leader of the land – nothing more, nothing less. His impregnable heart and soul bore no love, no compassion and no thought for those who failed to use a magnifying glass to screen the man. Did they not pick up the vibrations exuding from him that he was all of self and none of thee? Didn’t they detect that this man was an imposter?

That his heart and soul were fortified only with the personal ambition of bulldozing his way through the political quagmire to become the third leader of an Independent Federation and, upon obtaining that goal, the country and its people could go to hell and burn up? Were we so blinded with hatred for Dr. Douglas and anything Labour, that we failed to see these signals which were perspiring from the man forcefully in heavy drops?

His very utterances should have sent up RED FLAGS of warning that this man meant no good for the Federation and its people! “Our CBI Programme provides terrorists with our passports and citizenship?” “St. Kitts is poorer than Haiti!” Do you remember these comments? Did we assail him on these erroneous and unjustified attacks on the integrity of our country? Didn’t we laugh and clap and thought it to be true when he uttered them? Did we chastise him for uttering those treacherous comments about us and our country?

We should have objected vehemently and beeped sirens of displeasure when he foisted the concoction called the unity mirage upon us, claiming that those land filled materials were the best crew he could muster and that they were worthy representatives our beautiful paradise of a Federation? Church bells, the JNF General Hospital ambulance sirens, the Fire Brigade truck sirens should all have blared loudly when this unworthy and ragged crew boarded to man our Ship of State. Were we in a drunken stupor when all these shenanigans were taking place right in front of our very eyes? Instead of taking cognizance of these happenings, we willfully and totally ignored all of them; we stifled our consciences, we buried our heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich and this is why, today, we and our Federation are in dire straits!

Scripture records that, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

When we pray for a monarch or for a government, that is not a sign that we approve of either. Our prayer is not about approval, it is about love. Our prayer for a monarch and their advisors are offered not because we support them but because they are human beings whom God loves and wants to come to the awareness of the truth. Besides, they are in a location of immense advantage and spiritually exposed to assist God’s children in ways that He has made them well able. Hence, they are in need of our prayers to bring honour and glory to God.

The church is not at work at worship! Rather, the church is at rest and restoration in worship in preparation for continued work in the respective disciplines in the Kingdom of God here on earth. It is during that time of rest and restoration that all of God’s children are equipped to display their Christly principles and values with themselves and others within communities.

So then, what do we ask for in Prayer? We ask that all may know the truth and be saved. We ask that Christ Jesus may be very real to them, as they live in a very real relationship with them. Only when this lifestyle is realized by monarchs and political leaders, they will make policies and laws for the country with spiritual effervescence become contagious among our people. What is paramount then, is for, the powerful to strive to become personally like Christ by being transformed by His Holy Spirit to live in His likeness and substance. The advent of this will see self being sped into the background and honesty come to the fore; forgiveness of the enemy will be meted out and the weal, vulnerable and destitute will be nurtured.

In prayer, we ask God to make alive the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and skill specifically given to those called to such high office, to know the best way to translate their Christ-instincts into policies and law of the land.

There can never be biblical leaders who are truly mature until they come to realize that God has called them to be examples to others. Our Lord Jesus pointed out, “A disciple is not greater than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). In this context, therefore, the Lord is showing that one’s true spirituality, or godliness – or lack thereof, is revealed in our actions and that such actions will of necessity influence others either for good or for evil. Students, sons, daughters, and groups, tend to emulate; they want to be like their leaders, parents, guardians, teachers, or heroes. Today’s reality, is tendency to shy away from this responsibility and reality, but in order to be a truly mature leader, one must accept this as a reality of leadership.

In a recent speech by the Prime Minister given in the National Assembly he declared that his Government has never hesitated to do the right thing and his government has always done the right thing not for the sake of EXPEDIENCY, but because it is the RIGHT thing to do.

Our Prime Minister has been telling the public so many lies that he does not know when he is telling lies from when he is telling the truth.

Take for instance the matter of the establishment of the “Public Accounts Committee.” The Prime Minister hesitated and hesitated and when he finally decided to establish the Public Accounts Committee it was done on the basis of EXPEDIENCY.

In a further matter, the matter of the Basseterre High School, the Prime Minister has gone along with the whole set of “stupidness”, not because he knows or thinks it is right, but because it is EXPEDIENT to do so.

Surely our Prime Minister could not have believed that his government was doing the right thing when it disciplined CMO Dr. Patrick Martin, most severely, and allowed the evil-doers involved to escape without any form of discipline or punishment. The Timothy Harris government dealt with CMO Dr. Patrick Martin on the basis of EXPEDIENCY. Even a fool would have known that Dr. Martin was not deserving of any discipline or punishment.

The nasty thing about the whole affair is that the Bishop is not known to be a scholar or someone who loves Learning and Teaching.

He is not a person who could easily attract the respect and admiration of the other Principals or teachers. He was appointed Principal of the School just for the sake of Expediency.

Team Unity promised the general public Openness and Transparency. All we are getting now that Team Unity is government is Secrecy, Hypocrisy and misleading Propaganda.

Team Unity promised the electorate good governance and Financial Stringency. Instead what Team Unity has given us is A Stem Cell Research Project and the saga of a Chinese Refugee and paying people in St. Kitts-Nevis for protection.

By: FAIR SHARE FOR ALL

We need to put the brakes on. The federation is running away from us. All sorts of strange and unusual things are happening in the land that I love. We need a time out.

On Tuesday, 20 June 2017, a famous Kittitian named George Washington Archibald died. But his death and the contribution that he made to our society were not the big news. Not at all. Instead, the big news was the murder of a previously little known young man who succumbed to his injuries at the JNF General Hospital after having been shot down in broad daylight at the same location.

That was the big news. The breaking news. The headline news.

Following the brazen, high day shooting, a fidgety Acting Prime Minister took to the airwaves to make a statement that it “fell to him” in that capacity, to address the nation about the murder, only because it happened at the hospital.

“It fell to him” sounded to me like he didn’t want to do it. Maybe, as education minister, he would have preferred to have made the statement on the passing of “Washie”.

And as he read from the teleprompter, his hands appearing and disappearing from view throughout the whole statement, I couldn’t help but wonder, if the magic wand that would have made crime disappear once Team Unity had won the elections, had itself, disappeared.

Patrick Martin, MD
Student & Resident Citizen

Seventeen year olds are children in late adolescence. They should be buried in books or software development, not in a grave. They should be taking shots at goal or throwing the shot put, not shooting or being shot at.

The nation continues to reel under the burden of crime and violence. The prevalence of brazen and callous life-threatening and life-ending attacks unnerve to the point of psychosomatic illnesses. Cries for relief are increasingly desperate; people feel exposed because of the shooting in public places.

The crossfire has thus far spared the country’s hospitality-based economy. However, with shots being fired during football and in the hospital, a disaster waiting to happen.

Why are things the way they are? In its 2002 World Report on Violence, the World Health Organization stated “Gangs and a local supply of guns and drugs are a potent mixture increasing the likelihood of youth violence”. This formula applies to the Federation.

Trafficking in illegal substances, people and stolen goods is a lucrative business. The importation of guns is a natural consequence. Trafficking is also a risk to life. Compliance with gang rules is absolute and violations attract ruthless punishment, even the death penalty. Indeed, thuggery is immune to Parliament’s expanded penalty footprint. The mindset is kill or be killed hence the inevitable deadly feuds over product and turf.

The Federation’s current predicament was predictable and predicted. During an early 1990’s national consultation on the status of children, conclusive evidence of a looming problem was documented by persons working on the frontline of child health and child protection. Reference was drawn to the scores of toxic family arrangements where some children are radicalized to become thugs and other children pimped to get bills paid. The evidence and analysis were dismissed as alarmist.

Likewise, the obvious existence by the turn of the century of a violent gang culture was denied. Not surprisingly, there is lack of robust attention to the 30 or so girls who become new mothers every year – an indicator of pedophile tolerance.

Quite often one hears of parliament being referred to as a forum, but what exactly is a forum? The root of the word is the Latin ‘fores’ which means ‘without (or outside) the door’, and pertained to an enclosure surrounding a house. In its plural form (fora) the word referred in ancient Roman times to a public square or marketplace used for judicial and other business. That is according to The Oxford English Dictionary.In The United States ‘forum’ generally refers to a court or tribunal, but elsewhere and otherwise it means, generally, “a meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.” (OED)

Some of the key points to note and remember here are bound up in the ideas that persons meet for the purpose of ‘transacting business’ and, as a highly important component for so doing, seek to exchange ‘ideas and views’ on a particular issue or issues.
When our people go to the polls at general elections, they do so in order to elect persons they wish to have represent them in parliament, the highest body for the formulation of the nation’s policies and enactment of its laws. The people do not go to the polls to elect ‘ministers’, be it of this, that or the other.

Depending on the outcome of the ballots cast in an election what should happen is that the persons (or group of persons) holding the majority of seats in the ensuing parliament sit on what are known as the government benches, while those holding the minority of seats occupy the other side of parliament known as the opposition benches. Thus parliament is supposed to comprise and represent the collective will of the nation.

In order to give effect to the decisions of parliament, an executive committee is ‘selected’, authorised, and tasked with ‘executing’ those decisions. That executive committee (formally designated as ‘The Cabinet’) is led by the person who commands the support of the majority of representatives on the government side.

The very important point to note here is that ‘Cabinet’ is (or is supposed to be) subordinate to ‘Parliament’. Over the years a number of ‘self-serving’ individuals have played on the weaknesses, amorality aNd greed of certain politicians, and have ‘openly’ encouraged them to think and operate in the reverse manner, and that is a feature which has been fostered and played out across the region.

Many of us can remember that in the days of Comrades Bradshaw, Southwell, France and the many others, the parliamentary chambers were sited on a floor above that where the Cabinet room was located. It was a powerful, clear and unmistakable expression of the relative roles and status of the two bodies. Matters from Cabinet would then ‘go up’ to parliament.

The conduct of the nation’s affairs in The National Assembly is once again a cause for much worry. The rapid deterioration is a matter of grave concern, even to the most casual observer.

It has now become absolutely clear that no effort is being spared to frustrate our parliamentary opposition and stifle the voice of those who represent the majority of people in this country. As a matter of fact, the very composition of parliament, while it conforms to constitutional provisions, is nevertheless undemocratic.

And that points to the very nature of the constitution itself, one that was framed out of a burning and deeply rooted hatred of the vast majority of Kittitians and our long favoured politically organisation, namely The St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party.

It is a document that was ushered in by a mismatched group of individuals, persons who, while very much a minority, had conniving eased themselves into power. Having succeeded in doing so they were determined to keep themselves in power forever, and in the process, they handed dissident elements on Nevis a whip with which to flay the people of St. Kitts.

Thus it was then, thus it is again today.

For centuries Kittitians have been wrongly and most unfairly blamed for the misfortunes of the people of Nevis and Anguilla, two groups of people who always readily complied with calls to move to St. Kitts and help to undermine the political strength of Kittitians.

There are (and have always been) certain Kittitians who have never had the real interests of our people (Kittitians, Anguillans and Nevisians) to heart, but who, instead, have ALWAYS been interested in political power only. Those are the ones who always promoted divisions in our people and our affairs, and several of their modern day ‘acolytes’ were directly involved with imposing upon us the constitutional arrangement which effectively allows the minority to exercise control over the majority.

Such a state of affairs cannot be allowed to persist.

How can it be right for minority elements to exercise control over and hold the majority to ransom? Are not those some of the major sufferings about which our forebears complained so bitterly and fought against so strenuously during the colonial era? Why then are we tolerating such mistreatment again?

In every aspect of human endeavor, there will always be traitors. Most often they are also demonic in nature. But does that mean that we have to accept such creatures and their behaviours? We of this newspaper say “not at all”. Indeed, as we always have, we call upon our people to stand up and fight for all that is rightfully ours. We quite simply cannot afford to do or be otherwise.

A minority group of persons, aided and abetted by an even smaller band of crooks, are simultaneously using and abusing us. They are draining our resources while building up themselves and their cronies, all the while continuing to mamaguy the gullible into believing that they are looking out for them.

It is time for the people of St. Kitts to stand up, use our power, and assert our rights. Why should it be acceptable for others to do so but not Kittitians?