Jamaica: Our leaders failed us
In 1998, I sat on the floor of our single room dwelling and watched the news reporter recount the gruesome incident of the shooting of a little girl in her home as she and her sibling played. I vaguely remember the incident but she was just about my age at the time and I remember seeing the pain on her mother’s face as she spoke. More than twenty years have passed and still very little has changed in Jamaica. The pain felt by the mother is all too common as crime and corruption continue to be major problems that have daunted the dreams of many Jamaicans and beaten hope to a mere fizzle.
Jamaicans who live overseas will proudly profess that no place is better than yaad and I tend to agree with this sentiment even as our home leaves much more to be desired. In 2020, there are communities in Jamaica that still do not have running water. In 2020 there are places without electricity. In 2020, some communities do not have basic infrastructure.
Over many decades, our leaders have disappointed us. The many promises that they have made are yet to come to fruition. Even as they have been democratically elected, many of our leaders appear to enter office with a greater focus on the acquisition of personal wealth rather than the growth and development of our people and country. I have nothing against making money, earning a living, and living well but at what cost? Consider the optics- politicians drive luxury vehicles Prados, Mercedes, and BMWs and live in nice homes and have private apartments whereas the average Jamaican they are seeking votes from can barely make rent and are hardly able to find food and don’t have access to proper health care. The poor masses hide their reality behind zinc fences and their voices are muted by violence. Yet corrupt politicians continue to plunder and make a mockery of our situation. They don’t really care about us!
Our democracy has failed us. Our leaders have failed us. Being asked to choose between the lesser of two evils in politics is a slap in the face and an insult to the character and integrity of Jamaican citizens. Every week another headline flashes across local media news outlets showing the latest issue of corruption. It makes me sick and disappointed. Those accused of mismanagement of public funds or questionable dealings are shuffled to other posts within the government. Shuffled-like tainted cards in a deck. Shuffled not tossed out or disregarded. Just shuffled because apparently without them Jamaica cannot go on. Don’t they think we know what is happening? We know the deck is the same. We know they are using the same old cards to run a new game.
Are the politicians wiser than us or are we just naïve and foolish? Do we need them? Or do they need us? With a general election looming, the choices of candidates are rather uninspiring. Both parties have been marred by allegations of corruption. But I dare say that Jamaicans have been acclimated to the status quo and there is some degree of acceptance for corruption and high murder rates. It makes me sick. Sick to my stomach that our elected officials seem to feel entitled to our votes with no degree of accountability. Sick that there are Jamaicans that continue to vote for the party of their father and their father’s father just because. We need a revolution. But who will lead it? What will it look like and how will we achieve it?
Members of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party and the opposition, People’s National Party are sharpening their election machinery and ramping up visibility in the media and communities across Jamaica. We have seen this all before. We, the Jamaican people, are well aware of the tricks and trades. We know all the politicking that takes place. But what are we doing about it? If voting is our civic responsibility, then efficient, competent representation is our right. We deserve leaders who do not loot the public purse. We deserve leaders that put our needs first and are committed to the transformation our communities.
How long will we accept the mediocre representation that is offered to us? Are we not aware that they often misrepresent their intentions and that they hide behind the bureaucracy and supposed unavailability of funds. The Japanese have the concept of Honne and Tatemae and it involves people having two faces. The first face, tatemae, is the one you show to the world and the second face, honne, is the one you show in private spaces. What face do you believe our politicians give to us? The first face where they make political speeches and promise us grand infrastructure programs and show up for photo-ops. They posture on key issues and pander to key groups within Jamaican society. The second face is the face that they share with other politicians and close family and friends as they mastermind grand schemes of nepotism and lay the framework for institutional cronyism. Then I propose that there is a third face that they keep to themselves. The face of pride in their achievements or does that face show remorse and disappointment. Or even sadness and regret. I suppose we will never know.
I tried to find more details about the incident in 1998 to write this piece but unfortnately I wasn’t able to gather any more information than what I previously had. I’m not even worried about the facts at this point because there are too many similar incidents- a little girl was murdered, her mother spoke to reporters in pain, they showed snipets of her uniform and school books and the reporter began by stating “a community is in mourning this evening as gunmen attacked and mudered a little girl…” It’s a story we have seen a thousand times. It’s all too familiar. Here in 2020, there are very few differences in the election issues of the 90s — corruption, crime, poverty eradication, housing, and the economy. Have we not learned from our past. Have we not evolved in our thinking? Have we not progressed? Have our leaders failed us? What’s next?
