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Johnson Smith a major disappointment
She started out as a shining light, a bright and believable woman who had finally come on to the scene to make a difference in the annals of Jamaica's Parliament and politics. But after the latest saga involving so-called threatening e-mails, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith has only succeeded in confirming that she has joined the club of political tribalists.
Her move to poke fingers at former Senator and Cabinet minister AJ Nicholson flopped big time, and it will take some time before she is able to wash her face again, add a little powder, and present herself as the poster girl of politics. She has failed to provide any evidence to substantiate her point that she had been threatened by Nicholson.
What Johnson Smith has succeeded in doing is confirm to the public that she was only trying to deflect attention from the going-nowhere Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Central, George Wright, to the Nicholson subject.
Nicholson has a unique style. It is not necessarily one that I admire, but that's how he functions, and that must be respected. It's the same way that I have my own style and although many do not like it, it will change only if there are compelling reasons for that to happen.
Johnson Smith should work on a self-imposed sentence that she could use to reflect on her actions, and, as they say, wheel and come again.
I know that she is being eyed to contest the St Andrew North Eastern seat in the next general election, although someone young, with the surname Chuck, is also being prepared. Maybe the best thing for the foreign affairs and foreign trade minister to do is make a public statement, citing her miscalculation of the facts and her wrong, if the public was led to believe that something was amiss regarding the general conduct of her predecessor at the foreign ministry.
Where is Heroy Clarke going with the Auditor General?
This one does not need the prime minister's intervention. The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate must move urgently to arrange educational sessions for Members of Parliament and Senators on how to conduct themselves during sittings, or at the committee level.
Last week's stick-up of Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis, a highly competent public official and an individual of impeccable character and integrity, by some members of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament confirmed how many elected and appointed officials do not know parliamentary procedures, and instead only make asses of themselves.
Take MP for St James Central, Heroy Clarke, now in his second term, how he went about trying to tear into and unsettle the AG was way out of line. He even made a statement which left me having to wonder if I was the only one who heard it, because none of his colleagues have corrected him. By saying that, "Parliament supersedes all courts" in Jamaica, is to show how ignorant one can get. Doesn't Clarke know that there are three arms of Government - the Legislature (Parliament), the Executive (Cabinet etc), and the Judiciary (Courts)? In fact, the Parliament, or Cabinet for that matter, may even have to yield to the courts on certain issues, so it is erroneous to say that Parliament supersedes all courts.
Cornwall College is, by and large, known to produce outstanding individuals, and up to recently Clarke was president of the school's old boys' association. Officials of the great institution might be left to wonder if one of their numbers has chosen to go the route of idiocy.
Mrs Monroe Ellis was not summoned to appear before the PAC. She did so volounarily, in a bid, as she said, to clarify points in respect of her absence from the entrance and exit interviews for an internal audit of her department, in 2019, being done by the Ministry of Finance.
But Clarke seems to be on a mission that is impossible to realise what he has in his head.
Similarly, freshman MP for St Catherine South Eastern Robert "Big Rob" Miller even chose to ask the AG to name the journalist who had contacted her from The Gleaner in respect of an article published in that newspaper last week. "Big Rob" should have known better. Here is a man who means the people of this country everything that is good. I regard him as my friend. I believe in him and I am sure that if he gets the opportunity, he will become a fine MP. But asking such a question can only land him in trouble. Hopefully, he will learn.
Fresh faces Morland Wilson of Westmoreland Western, and Dwight Sibblies of Clarendon Northern have also been polluting the Parliament with verbal garbage and simply need to settle down and gain knowledge.
But back to Heroy Clarke. Has anyone noticed how hostile he has been towards the AG during recent committee sittings, and the comments that he has made about her?
There are no perfect individuals around, but Jamaicans have grown accustomed to the Auditor General's Department always presenting interesting findings, highlighting inadequacies in State procedures, long before Monroe Ellis, or her predecessor, Adrian Strachan, yet nothing is usually done about it.
Unless breaches can be addressed, there will be no change in how the department is treated, and people like Heroy Clarke will continue to believe that Parliament stands supreme. I wonder if the AG is coming up with something mega, in terms of a report, that will make a certain arm of Government look bad? Wait for it!
No need to crucify Antonio Watson
Antonio Watson should not be nailed to the cross. The Petersfield High School athlete, by exhibiting a gun display at the National Stadium last week, was merely highlighting what happens in Jamaica ordinarily.
It is not a nice symbol. But this is what the nation's deejays teach the young people of this country, which is worrying. Watson did not invent the gesture; it has been going on for years now at 'Champs' and at other events. In 2019, for example, when Kingston College won the Boys' title, top hurdler Wayne Pinnock fired blanks in the direction of the partisan KC crowd as soon as he had broken the 110-metre record in the event. Sure, he did not point his finger at his opponents, as Watson was accused of doing, but what's the difference?
I have also seen similar things done by athletes of other schools, Jamaica College and Calabar included, which only means that the Inter-secondary Schools' Sports Association should have already instituted a policy, or enforced one if it existed, that would outlaw the practice.
Crucially, there was no visible public exhibition by the girls, which is a huge relief.
The talent that we have seen in Watson, a 2017 World Youth 400-metre champ, is awesome. He is, as we say in this country, full of vibe, which is good for him, because it can boost his confidence. He has a fine coach to guide him on the track; he will need trusted people to have his back off it.
So it is time to cancel the crucifixion. Watson can set aside the gun gestures, but need not drop the element of comedy that he brings to the table. Remember one Usain Bolt and the slapping of his chest at the London Olympic Games after he won the 100 metres in 2008?
PNP lagging too far behind
Looking back at a video on Facebook recently, which featured Michael Manley, I was left to wonder how much the People's National Party has changed in such a short time. Manley, its former president, must be unsettled in his grave.
What now presents itself as the PNP is anything but, and those in charge seem to be sleeping on the job and refuse to put the systems in place for the ailing party to be revived.
Just over a week ago, the party's president, Mark Golding, named a junior shadow Cabinet, which, I suppose, was established to groom young talent, and assist the assigned spokespersons at the higher level. But if reports reaching me are accurate, and some of the senior people were not aware of the appointments, or were told the day before the announcement, then that cannot be good for the party.
I understand that Lisa Hanna, for example, knew about the individual chosen to shadow her by way of the media. Unacceptable, if true. Maybe that explains why Hanna's position on the madness that's going on between Israel and Palestine is dissimilar to that of Christopher Henry, the junior Cabinet spokesman on foreign affairs.
The nonsense must stop. If Golding cannot get down to business now and do the things that are necessary to hold the party together and rebuild it, then he must consider his future in political leadership.
Golding has still not uttered a word about Lambert Brown's vigilante justice stance in the Senate. He has also not commented on the arrest and charge of a councillor, and candidate in the last general election, Patrick Roberts, who is on bail preparing to answer to fraud charges. Can he at least tell us about Roberts' status, whether or not the party will be standing by him until the end of his trial, and depending on the outcome, what action will be taken; or will be sent on leave (the in-thing these days) pending the outcome of the matter?
Things cannot continue like this.