Reflections on 49 Years of Bahamas Independence

Bahamian Independence: Where is the Strategical Empowerment of the Average Bahamian?

BAHAMIANS - TO BE INDEPENDENT OR NOT INDEPENDENT, THAT IS THE QUESTION?

By Dr Kevin Joseph Turnquest Alcena

LLB (Hon-1st Cl.), LLM (Hon-1st cl.) Ph.D. in Economics/Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology/Ph.D. in Public Health/Ph.D. in Herbal and Holistic Medicine/Ph.D. in Biogenetics/M.D. Titular Professor, Lawyer July 9 9 2022

As we here in The Bahamas stand on the precipice of celebrating forty-nine (49) years as an “independent” nation, I ponder on the idea of whether we have indeed attained real freedom. What then does it mean to be independent? What have we really achieved in pursuit of liberty? What have we gained in our ambitious attempt to climb the ladder to sovereignty?

Well, according to Maria Montessori, “Independence is not a static condition; it is a continuous conquest, and in order to reach not only freedom, but also strength, and the perfecting on one’s powers, it is necessary to follow this path of unremitting toil.”

Have we understood the conditions necessary to thrive as an independent nation? Or have we deceived ourselves into thinking that we have prospered in this capacity?

If we were to be honest with ourselves, have we carried out the mandate that was left behind by our forefathers to ensure that we are ‘one people united in love and service?’ Can we look through the dispensations of time and say that we have done all that we can as Bahamians to ensure that we are leaving this nation as an inheritance for our future generations?

Proverbs 13:22 says, “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children…”

Have we done justice to that which was left behind by those that went before us, or have we carelessly squandered the resources and ignored their pleas of guaranteeing the next generation is taken care of?

Let us review what has been done over the past forty-nine (49) years.

Firstly, can we call a ten-billion debt advancement? Over the years to free ourselves from the bars of being dependent on other countries we have accumulated an astounding amount of debt that has left us I daresay, more bound than ever!

We see no improvement in terms of debt management. We have regressed as we have made ourselves slaves in our own country to China, the United States, Europe, even our neighboring Caribbean countries.

John Adams said it best, “There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.”

How can we say we are truly free when we depend on everyone to feed us, keep our economy running, keep our cars on the road, our environment secured, even our borders safe? How are we uninhibited when we do not see a need to break free from the chains of our self-created bondage?

We have become so complacent in being slaves that we fight to stay enshrouded in the safety net of captivity rather than war for true liberty. We have simply traded on task master for another.

We have trained each other, like the Pavlovian Model of Consumer Behavior to answer the call of the slave masters of our nation. This conditioning has matriculated down through the ages to the detriment of our children and their children’s children.

As a result, we have constructed a society of entitled, unmotivated and unproductive people who do not even comprehend the fact that they are in subjugation to a society that they will never be released from.

Most people are only living from pay cheque to pay cheque. Therefore, so many struggle to survive when it is time to retire because of the debt that has been accumulated over time. We have been conditioned by our leaders to borrow and borrow to the inconveniency of eternal servitude that our generational line must suffer through.

So instead of inheriting lands and wealth, we inherit debt upon debt. As Proverbs 22:7 declares, “The borrower is slave to the lender.” Can we in fact say that we have succeeded in our goal of being free?

Secondly, do you think it was the objective of our predecessors on their march to freedom to create a government that spends more time warring, rather than working with each other? “Party disputes are now carried to such a length, and truth is so enveloped in mist and false representation, that is extremely difficult to know through what channel to seek it out” (George Washington).

Successive governments - one after the other, continue the trend of the very thing our progenitors tried to escape that being partisanship in our political ideology.

How can an overcrowded Civil Service be called evolvement? The Bahamas is so far behind in terms of growth and development as opposed to our counterparts in the U.S., Canada, Africa, and the Caribbean. Why?

For one thing we cannot seem to grasp the concept of promotion based on training and skill rather than seniority.

Where then, is the strategical empowerment of the average Bahamian?

There is a consistent cry that the government has no money to hire. Yet we see the same people that have recently retired back in the public eye, paid thousands of dollars to ‘work’ on contract, while everyone beneath them carries out the labor. How can we say we are independent when even in the workplace, we do not believe in succession planning or giving others the chance to excel?

There is a persistent complaint by the powers that be, about the lack of trained young people, but when they become qualified, they are told there are no opportunities for them! But we wonder why when they go off to school, they have no desire to come back home.

The solution here is simple, let those that are retired, stay home and open doors for more opportunities for those that are qualified through incentivized programs so that they can come back home.

Moreover, when persons make the bold move to try and elevate themselves, they are met with all kinds of hinderances. The idea that they would have the audacity to step out of line and out of their place, reemphasizes the oppression we have been born into.

Galatians 5:13 states, “For brethren you have been called unto liberty: only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” According to our constitution, we consider ourselves to be a Christian nation. If that be the case, why do we despise our own and not as the word says, serve one another?

Why do we instead continue to choose others over our own and exploit one other to please the slave masters we have inherited? Why do not help one another excel and elevate, rather than tear each other down? Why do we continue to keep the masses down and impoverished, rather than empowered? I ask you my brothers and sisters, is this what independence really means?

Ervin Welsh said, “It is important to know we can celebrate independence, but more so to ensure we are not living in-dependence.” How powerful is it when we comprehend the fact that to be free doesn’t automatically mean freedom has been gained?

When one looks at the fact, that we are set free on paper, yet we depend on everyone for survival. This has bled into our educational system that has for years been failing our children.

Why are still using the forms of standardized testing implemented by the British to test our children? Why do we still need to get accreditation from other countries before our children’s test results are placed on par with other countries so that they can go to school abroad?

After forty-nine years of independence why is the national average still a “D”? It’s a crying shame that this is where we are presently standing.

According to a survey done by the World Bank, the Caribbean countries has an 89% literacy rate which is surprisingly higher than the U.S.! Furthermore, The Bahamas ranks 7th in The Caribbean with a literacy rate of 95.6%. This tells me then than we as a people are just as capable of doing anything as any other country around the world.

If that is so, why are we still utilizing programs and systems from other countries to steer our educational system? Would not the people most suited to write programs for our schools, be other Bahamians that are well versed in Computer Technology?

This level of dependence will continue to stunt our students’ growth and progress. This was clearly seen, three weeks ago with the disastrous crashing of the LMS System utilized by the Ministry of Education that resulted in production of school report cards being delayed by two weeks!

Consequently, when report cards were picked up this past week, parents were not able to have their queries answered as teachers had already left for summer vacation. This is a prime example of why their needs to be an overhaul of the educational system and redesigned for optimal success of our children.

Finally, if we are to genuinely be independent, we must change the modus operandi of how we do business. We can no longer depend on Tourism to merely support us.

There must be a clear partisan, paradigm shift of our economy because income taxes are not going to do it!

While we were smart enough to rectify many of our impending problems, we must be strategic in our resolve moving forward collectively as a nation.

We need land reform. Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling institutionalized this country and I have not seen any other Prime Minister after him do so. Rather they have uplifted all their friends making them richer.

We have inherited over the last forty-nine years a tribal form of government, from both sides. The latest trend is maculating themselves in ego and positioning with the aim of personal gain first, as opposed to servanthood.

The wealth of this nation no longer trickles down, the status quo is ‘you get into politics, you take care of your friends.’

There is an Attaliah Spirt that has spread throughout the various ministries in this country, from education to government.

The continual assassination of those that try to bring change has always been overtaken by the misogyny imposed upon them and their voices hushed by the powers that be.

We must find another way to eliminate this Attaliah construct. As Nelson Mandela said, “For to be free is not merely to cast of one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

After forty-nine years, are we living in true freedom or are we living a perception of what we think is liberty? Think on these things!

Source

Those who refuse to exercise their right to vote for cavalier and unreflective reasons, do a disservice to the witness of Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Bahamian men and women freedom fighters, and protestors around the world today for whom the right to vote is a democratic gift not to be taken lightly nor for granted

The right and duty to vote

Front Porch

By Simon

Those Bahamians who take for granted our democracy and their right to vote with smug or shallow excuses for not registering or voting, might wish to read the cover story of the December 26 edition of Time Magazine announcing its 2011 “Person of the Year”.

Instead of a single person, Time selected “The Protestor” in tribute to protestors around the world, and especially across North Africa and the Middle East who are forcing democratic change, including the right to vote.

What has been termed the Arab Spring is unfolding in different ways from the Maghreb to the Levant, perhaps even stirring protests for fairer elections in Russia.  Still, no matter the country, protestors are bound by the shared goals of political enfranchisement and greater economic empowerment.

The choice of The Protestor has a double-significance: It links collective action with individual choice, which is the ideal of free and fair elections.  Just as it may require a mass of protestors to gain the right of an individual to vote, it takes a mass of voters to continually secure those rights by exercising their franchise.

It was just over a year ago in Tunisia that the democratic flowering of the Arab Spring bloomed.  What forced the Spring and galvanized the forces of change was an act of the ultimate sacrifice by 26-year-old fruit vendor Mohammed Bouazizi.

Bouazizi was the primary breadwinner for his mother and siblings.  Deeply distraught at having his produce confiscated yet again, and at being harassed by various authorities over many years, he lit himself afire to protest his treatment and that of scores of Tunisians.

Catalyst

His death some days later from severe burns and injuries was the catalyst for events still unfolding.  Within a year, longstanding and entrenched dictators fell in Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt.  Other regimes such as the Assad dynasty in Syria appear imperilled.

The giddy illusion by some that with the despots gone, well-functioning democracies would quickly emerge was punctured by chaotic legislative elections in Egypt, and the fear that the generals who secured Hosni Mubarak’s rule might not be intent on giving up power so quickly.

Fearing that their democratic revolution might be at risk, the protestors who voted Mubarak out of office with their bodies returned to the now famous Tahrir Square as a warning to the generals.

The unfolding of democratic revolutions occurring in the Middle East and North Africa, highlight a charter of rights fundamental to a functioning democracy, among them the rights of free assembly and speech to support or protest an idea or government.

A companion right which bolsters and protects these and other democratic rights is the right to vote in free and fair elections for the representatives and government of one’s choosing.

There are a number of glib excuses some give for not voting: “All politicians are the same. … These politicians don’t do anything for me. … My vote doesn’t count. … The system is flawed.”  There are other variations on these themes.

While there may be rare cases of conscientious objection for not voting, most of the excuses tend to be juvenile and glib evincing an almost pristine and wilful ignorance of history and the struggle for freedom and democracy.

The right to vote is a symbol and guarantor of democratic rights and freedoms.  Martin Luther King Jr. and those who marched and died for a Voting Rights Act enfranchising black Americans would not understand those today who take such a right for granted.

Nor would Nelson Mandela who spent over a quarter a century in prison or the millions of South Africans who often walk hours to a voting station, then spend additional hours on line waiting to vote.

In Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi was recently released from house arrest after many years.  She has agreed to and is encouraging the Burmese people to participate in upcoming elections.  It is unclear if those elections will be free and fair.  Having won a previous election which was annulled by the then military junta, she has not given up on democratic politics.

Arrogance

To refuse to vote is a decision.  It shows a level of disdain and contempt for our democratic system.  There is a certain arrogance to those who feel that voting is beneath them and that they won’t participate in electing “those politicians” (who, incidentally, are our fellow citizens).

Voting is not fundamentally about politicians.  It is about the citizenry choosing their elected representatives and holding them accountable.  Democracy, like the human condition is imperfect, requiring constant improvement and renewal.  The alternative is a system of anarchy.

There is also an immaturity to those who refuse to help choose the nation’s elected representatives and refuse also to participate in governance.  Still, they expect someone else to make the tough decisions on everything from crime to the economy to education.

Often, these same individuals have much to say on issues of public policy though they refuse to vote or become involved in governance.  There is a level of hypocrisy by those who sit on their high horses complaining about the politicians while refusing to participate.

A refusal to exercise one’s right to vote is a dereliction of a basic right for which many have fought and died, and for which many are still struggling.  For the progeny of slaves, it is a sort of disregard and dishonoring of the struggles of those ancestors who for generations fought for basic freedoms, including in The Bahamas for majority rule.

Those who refuse to exercise their right to vote for cavalier and unreflective reasons, do a disservice to the witness of Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Bahamian men and women freedom fighters, and protestors around the world today for whom the right to vote is a democratic gift not to be taken lightly nor for granted.

frontporchguardian@gmail.com

www.bahamapundit.com

Dec 27, 2011

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

We trust that the Free National Movement government means what it says... Accordingly, we remind the FNM of its specific pledge made in 2007, as it relates to establishing a Freedom of Information Act

Freedom and access to information

thenassauguardian editorial

Within weeks of coming to office in 2007, a new FNM administration led by Hubert Ingraham and guided by a Trust Agenda committed itself to greater democratic governance.

The tabling of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company sales agreements between the government and Cable and Wireless Communications was an example of this commitment, and was in keeping with the prompt freeing of the broadcast media from state control during the FNM’s earlier term in office.

We trust that the Free National Movement government means what it says.  Accordingly, we remind the government of its specific pledge made in 2007, as it relates to establishing a Freedom of Information Act:

“Accountability and transparency in government are fundamental to our code of beliefs, a code that includes the right of the people to access information regarding the processes of governing.  In support of such openness, legislation will be placed before you for the enactment of a Freedom of Information Act.”

This top billing and decisive language suggested immediate action.

So, what is the state of this pledge?  Enacting such legislation near the end of the current government’s term would not seem to be consistent with the FNM’s trust agenda.

Many other countries in the region are either in the process of drafting or have already implemented Freedom of Information laws.  Around the world, more than 60 countries have enacted FOI acts.

Freedom of information has long been recognized as a foundational human right ever since the United Nations General Assembly declared in 1946 that, “Freedom of Information is a fundamental human right and a touchstone of all freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.”  Since then, the Organization of American States and the Commonwealth — The Bahamas being a member of both — have also endorsed minimum standards on the right of information.

A FOI law has the potential to promote greater transparency and accountability and also facilitates greater public participation in the government’s decision-making process.  Empowering citizens with the legal right to access information of their government’s activities can strengthen democracy by making the government directly accountable to its citizens on a day-to-day basis rather than just at election time.

Legislation to provide more freedom or access to information is not an end in itself.

An outdated public service culture run by civil servants who would often prefer root canal surgery rather than press scrutiny will not quickly become more transparent because of the passage of a bill.

Moreover, a media culture that is often sloppy and lazy in its coverage of government and political affairs will also not suddenly become more enterprising.  Still, such legislation is a means to various ends.  It is a part of a framework of legislative tools that can help to promote a more accountable and transparent public service culture.

The debate on enactment of and training in the details of such legislation may help spur politicians, civil servants and journalists to provide citizens with the freedom of information needed to make freer and more informed decisions.

Outlawing discrimination does not end prejudice.  But it puts that prejudice on notice that discrimination is against the law.  Legislation to ensure greater public access to information will not in itself ensure a more open public service culture.  But it puts that culture on notice that such openness is an essential component in good and effective governance.

We trust that the FNM will live up to its word and will be supported by the opposition, who also committed itself to similar legislation.

As of now we are agnostic regarding the details of such legislation.  But we have faith that such landmark legislation is not only necessary, but long overdue.

Sep 08, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Happy Emancipation Day Bahamas!

By Dennis Dames



August 01 is emancipation day; it’s in commemoration of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 which ended slavery in the British Empire on August 01, 1834. We are free as God intended us to be.
We are free to determine our personal and collective destinies. We are free to be productive or unproductive people; to be caring or uncaring; to be respectful or disrespectful toward one another; we are free to love or hate.

In today’s Bahamas; our freedom has been taken advantage of for all the wrong reasons by we the people. It has lead us in to a state of disconnect, distrust and disunity; and criminals appear to be feasting on our exposed state of affairs.

Our collective freedom is not being well spent. We cannot decide on the way forward for our nation; we refuse to see the wisdom of a unified people. We prefer to fight and kill, rather than set good examples and build.

We have been emancipated since the beginning of time, and we choose to be reckless with our gift of choice rather than responsible citizens who are indeed brothers’ keepers.

We are free to make our ancestors proud of us by appreciating the sacred joy of freedom, and become nation builders of the first order; our children will treasure us for our resolve to create and maintain a prosperous and blessed country.

We are free, but it does not mean that we are secure. Security is a national endeavor in which every citizen has a stake. In The Bahamas today, our safety is being undermined by corrupt public officials and other rough elements amoung us.

Many of our countrymen are using their freedom to facilitate on a grand scale: human trafficking, gun smuggling, drug running,political corruption, murder and so on.

We are a nation under attack by criminal and satanic forces, and we who care about our future must come together and fight the scoundrels who are out to destroy our beloved land for their personal gain.

Yes, we must use our freedom to ensure that The Bahamas remains free, and the generations behind us are given the best opportunity to succeed and prosper.

We are free to be great, and to live as one in love and legitimate respect. Let’s do it brothers and sisters.

Happy emancipation day Bahamas.

August 01, 2011

Caribbean Blog International

Malcolm Adderley, Melissa Sears - and PLP smears

Melissa Sears and PLP smears
tribune242 editorial:


FIRST IT was Malcolm Adderley, now it is Melissa Sears, and today as the years roll by the PLP party seems to have forgotten its purpose for existence, reminding us rather of the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoyevsky's Brothers Karamzov.

This powerful soliloquy in the Russian novel is a deep, philosophical argument about God, free will and morality.

The Grand Inquisitor berates Christ for giving man the impossible burden of freewill, rather than security. He says that the so-call gift is no gift at all, rather this freedom to choose is a devastating, impossible burden.

People, said the Grand Inquisitor, should have been given no choice, instead, like automatons, they should just shuffle forward according to the will of their Creator.

"Nothing has ever been more insufferable for man than freedom!" concludes the Grand Inquisitor, a belief that seems to be gathering ascendancy within the Opposition party. Rather, like the Grand Inquisitor, the PLP offer their members security -- not freedom of thought. As long as they toe the party line, they will remain secure in the party fold. But get out of line and the Grand Inquisitor turns vicious -- out to destroy any idea of free will.

This tendency did not start recently, under what the electorate was duped into believing was to be a "new" PLP. It started way back in the days when Lynden Pindling returned from England, joined a party that he did not start, and quickly took over.

Malcolm Adderley, who, in the first week of this new year not only walked out of the PLP, but resigned as MP for Elizabeth, reminded his former colleagues that once upon a time in the distant past their party had the "distinction of being built by the blood, sweat and tears of hardworking men and women of humble beginnings, proud of their commitment to uplift the well being and standard of the people."

However, under the Pindling leadership, the party had lost its way. One man's dream replaced the dreams of the many, and for those who did not follow slavishly, political oblivion was the price they had to pay for having a mind of their own. Some of them, like Carlton Francis, a competent teacher, had difficulty finding a job to support their families. Mr Francis certainly was not acceptable in the government's educational system from which he had come and for which he was eminently qualified. Then there were the Dissident Eight, followed by Ed Moxey, and many others who didn't make the headlines, but certainly felt the pain of rejection and vicious scorn.

For seven long years Malcolm Adderley suffered stoically as MP for Elizabeth, until exasperated, he shook the dust from his sandals and walked out. In his farewell speech to the House, he talked of the souls of those who had sacrificed so much to build their party, but would ache as a "result of the venom and ill will that is displayed almost on a daily basis on any member who tries to correct its ills." He talked of the back-biting whispers and disrespect shown him.

And now it is the turn of a young woman, Melissa Sears, who like Mr Adderley was spotted by the party as a rising political star, and invited to join. Recently, for personal reasons -- not political -- she decided to step down as vice-chairman of the PLP. She made no fuss, she gave no interviews, she tried to keep a low profile so as not to embarrass her party. Persons close to her speculated that she had resigned because of disparaging remarks made by Opposition Leader Perry Christie. Mr Christie vehemently denied that he had made any such remarks. She remained silent.

And now the vicious party hacks, using the sophistication of the electronic age, are spreading unfair and untrue rumours to destroy this young woman. It is understood that this vehicle is being financially underwritten by two party hefties, one allegedly a sitting MP. We are not surprised by one of the names mentioned, but, if true, we are certainly surprised by the second. We gave him credit for being smarter than that.

The latest smear was imbedded on the cell phone of an FNM MP, allegedly from Ms Sears. It was an obvious trap. The MP knew that it was not from Ms Sears, because they did not have the type of relationship that was being suggested by the caller. All the sender wanted was for the MP to incriminate himself by falling for the bait, and answering the call. Instead, instinctively knowing that there was a plot afoot and guessing the source, he submitted it to the authorities for investigation. It is now being said that there is no room in the PLP for a strong woman. We say that as long as the Grand Inquisitor controls the party machine, there is no room for a strong man. The others will remain, tip-toeing around in craven fear.

Mr Adderley blamed Mr Christie for allowing PLP hacks to torture him right out of the party. It would probably be nearer the truth to speculate that Mr Christie is as afraid as his colleagues to have the smear-mongers on his case. After all the website has also given him a good flaying when it has suited those behind it.

If someone does not become more responsible in that party and respect the thoughts and opinions of others, that same irresponsible website is going to be the funeral site of the PLP.

April 30, 2010

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International