Taking a swipe at the Billionaire class in Davos: by Donovan Reynolds, Independent Writer.

A yearly event for the Business, Government, Academia and International organizations is held at the World Economic Forum high in the showy Swiss resort of Davos-Klosters.  These organisations aim to shape the global, regional and industry agendas and address pressing global challenges. This year’s theme is 'Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution'. However, the meeting has been overshadowed by fears of China's trending down of growth and plummeting oil prices on the world market. China's Vice President, Li Yuanchao, countered by remarking that China would address the recent slowdown in its economy. With the global financial market in a cautious mood it is expected that about ten central bank Governors will descend on the upmarket ski resort. It is hoped that the forum will provide them with a platform to lay out their ideas on requirements to help the global economy this year.

 France's Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, started off the European session by remarking that security and terrorism are one of the biggest challenges currently facing the European region. He called for a pooling of resources and also sharing more information, including a common programme of oversight of flights and airports. Wolfgang Schauble, Germany's finance Minister, called for a new Marshall Plan to tackle Europe’s refugee crisis, saying billions must be spent. Meanwhile, his boss Chancellor Angela Merkel, remains below the radar, smarting from a refugee sex scandal backlash from opposition parties at home in Germany. US Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew, has hinted in the opening session that markets have over-reacted to the oil price slump and China’s slowdown. While the contribution from HSBC boss warned that it is hard to raise money for green energy right now. Alexis Tsipras, Greece’s current Prime Minister, appeared sombre in his presentation he called for a new co-ordinated growth strategy and for Europe to diminish the inequalities between North and South.

High on the agenda at Davos will be the future of the European Union and the Schengen Agreement. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has told Davos that Europe business and community leaders should campaign in the upcoming referendum for Britain to remain in the European Union; recent polls show that 52% Britons opting for leaving the EU has placed the future of the union in doubt. With a UK referendum expected this year on its political relationship with Europe, whether to remain in or opt out Europe, nerves can hardly be calmed. However, David Cameron is wooing the doubters in Davos by insisting that he is 'confident' the UK will remain in a reformed European Union if he achieves the deal he is seeking for a new relationship with Brussels.

It is expected that some of the world’s influential charities such as Oxfam as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Trust will be there; they will rub shoulders with Hollywood heart-throbs, Political powerhouses and the growing billionaire class. This year the guest list is a little less white than the Oscars; the impressive guests include Rachel Whetstone, Justin Trudeau, Will.i.am, Sheryl Sandberg and Leonardo DiCaprio. Yet, missing from the Davos  list are the pied political pipers of the squeezed middle such as Bernie Saunders, Jeremy Corbyn and Russel Brand who will not get a foot in to embarrass the money grabbing capitalist billionaire class present at Davos.

As to the volunteers of Kingston- Mouth, we will be watching the drama unfold on our couches from afar, on television and social media, clutching our Poundland crisps and drinking organic carrot juice. However, our lower middle class voices will not be silenced.   Statistics from Oxfam bear testament to the fact that the squeezed middle class numbers and quality of life are evaporating rapidly from the planet.

Since the last economic crisis, the billionaire class has ridiculed the poor, so it’s time to return the favour to the Davos cavorting class. According the Oxfam Charity that examines global poverty, this year the richest 1% in the word will own more than all of us.  Yes I, will repeat: the cumulative wealth of us the 99 % will not match the wealth of a handful of mostly tax evading billionaires. Subsequently, the middle class among us are dwindling rapidly. Luckily, Winnie Bynyiami, Oxfam’s CEO, will have a voice at the table at Davos. Although it is likely that her voice will be drowned out by the greedy billionaire class worried about her dwindling oil stocks and shares on the Capital market.

Wealthy moneybags such as George Soros, Warren Buffett and the Kotch Brothers won’t choke on their glasses of champagne when Oxfam breaks the news to them that 62% persons like themselves wealth is equal to half of the world’s population wealth. They will be engrossed in scientific lectures about how robotics can lower the cost of labour and increase their already incredulous bottom-line.  I hope that whenever the first sets of robotics are delivered they resemble Bill Gates, Will I Am, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. While I am at it, might I take a swipe at British Billionaire Richard Branson who is busy in the American desert blowing up Space crafts in the American desert? He is fixated on landing millionaires on space stations in the stratosphere while the poor are starving in UN refugee camps as a result of terrorism, civil wars, drought and famines. Neither is he interested in the fact that most of the world’s poor are living on an income less that US 1.25, down from $2 a day before the last economic recession. His focus is solely to grow the Virgin Empire. The trump change that is left on his aircrafts goes to charity and he is very noisy about it.

 The Russian property grabbing billionaire class, such as Roman Abramovich and Yuri Milner, have an open yearly invite to sit cosily at the table at Davos and they might have one eye on the table and another on the lucrative property market in London. A word of advice to them, if they are bothered to make it to Davos, stick to property acquisition and refrain from criticising President Putin openly.  They really don’t want to get on his wrong side or they might end up sipping a glass of expensive vodka laced with plutonium by the KGB. We strongly advise that you confine your criticisms to your expensive yachts moored on the Chelsea Harbour or the French Riviera. As you swan around Europe laundering billions, remember those Russians living on less than 9,662 roubles ($169) a month. Please also remember that the number of Russians living on the official poverty line surged to nearly 23 million at the end of March 2015.

The Qatari Royal Family and the House of Saud are also in for it. Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar and H.M King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia have a combined wealth of 80 billion dollars. Their idea of a good charity is to spread Wahhabism (radical Islamic ideology) across the world. While they are buying expensive F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets at a cost of $94 million each from the US, these oil rich Middle East Royal families invest in high end sky scrapers in Europe, forcing up the price of real estate in London making it almost impossible for the Middle class to own a home . Turning up at Davos is beneath them as it’s too cold and definitely too high up in the hills of Switzerland to moor their luxurious yachts. Their version of human rights is to publically behead its citizens who oppose their exclusive rule by dictatorship and prevent women from driving in public. Despite this, they are the darlings of Europe and the US, the two main pillars of Capitalism and democracy in the word. They defiantly don’t have to turn up in Davos as they have the entire EU and US envoy doing the bidding on their behalf. Even with oil plummeting to an all-time low of $32.26 dollars a barrel, they are so rich that they won’t break into a sweat no matter how hot the desert gets.

You might be wondering why Kingston-Mouth has stooped so low to berate the Billionaire classes who turn up at the Word Economic Forum in Davos. These forums do not improve the lives of the poor and squeezed middle class from Beijing to Bangladesh. We see the gap between the rich and the poor getting wider; there is no trickle-down effect.  We emphatically do not believe that there is a tremendous passion to end poverty when billionaires and world leaders meet; based on the legacy of deception that Adam Smith has left us. We do not expect the likes of Christine Lagarde, President of the IMF who receives a tax free salary of US $467,940  to close the gap between rich and the poor; the best she can achieve during her tenure  is a face lift and an expensive hair extension. If we had a choice between wiping out poverty or wiping out billionaires which one do you think we would choose?

This article was written by Donovan Reynolds CEO and edited by Ann Smith Managing Editor of Kingston-Mouth .com.  Donovan Reynolds is an Independent Blogger and Human Rights Activists who is of a Jamaican descent and a legal academic that has an interest in Human Rights, Culture and International Development Issues.

Turkeys Arrest of 12 University Academics& It’s Dubious Human Rights Violations against the Kurds: by Donovan Reynolds Independent Writer

Yet another busy week on the international scene:  Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) killed 28 people and a further 56 were injured in Burkina Faso after Islamist militants attacked a hotel in the capital of Ouagadougou, frequented by foreigners. Then there was pleasing news that Jason Rezaian, an American Journalist employed by the Washington Post, and four other Americans were released by Iranian authorities in a prisoner swap. Rezian was arrested in July 2014 on alleged charges of espionage. On the 14th of January a major shopping and business district in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, close to foreign embassies and the United Nations offices, was bombed by terrorists; two civilians and five of the attackers were killed. The week ended with a good item of news on Saturday with the US and the EU announcing the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran.

This week’s blog focuses on the current situation in Turkey where its President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has ordered the detention of twelve academics over allegations of involvement in “terror propaganda”. These academics, together with 1,400 others, signed a petition calling for the end of a massacre and deportation of Kurdish people. Two academics of international notoriety, American Noam Chomsky and the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, had been severely criticised by the Turkish President. He accused them of not paying attention to the true picture in Turkey   and labelling them as ignorant terrorist sympathisers. The war of words ratcheted up this week when the UK Guardian quoted that Chomsky accused Erdoğan of operating double standards on terrorism.

The arrests prompted a flurry of reactions from Rights organisations who accused the Turkish President of violating academic freedom by rounding up innocent university teachers.  They were concerned about the welfare of these academics that did not deserve to be incarcerated on the basis of assisting the Kurds to assert their human rights. Among them is Amnesty international asserting that the current military campaign against the Kurds, conducted by the Turkish government, involves a breaching international law. These Rights organisations also accuses Turkey of targeting staff from 90 Turkish universities (calling themselves “Academicians for Peace”) who signed the petition last week calling for an end to the acts of state oppression against the Kurds.

 Further pressure was brought to bear on the Turkish President on Wednesday when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov opportunistically announced that he is set to hold talks with the co-chairman of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtas on the matter. There were further developments on Friday, reported by local media, when Turkey’s main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) also chided President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for ordering arrests of dissident academics.  With such pressure mounting we expect the UN to at least make a statement shortly on the matter.

The Kurdish people’s quest for an independent state and self-rule can be traced back to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. During that period the Allies contrived to split Kurdistan (as detailed in the ultimately unratified Treaty of Sèvres) among several countries, including Kurdistan, Armenia and others. However, the recapture of these areas by the forces of Kemal Atatürk (and other pressing issues) caused the Allies to accept the renegotiated Treaty of Lausanne and the borders of the modern Republic of Turkey, leaving the Kurds without a self-ruled region.

Turkey's human rights record against the Kurds has unremittingly attracted scrutiny, both internally and from external Rights organisations. Furthermore, its close association with the US, NATO and the European Union has been criticised by international commentators. It is open secret that Turkey has exploited its strategic relationship with the west by flouting human rights openly against the Kurds. This history of abuse against the Kurds has been well catalogued by the European Courts of Human Rights (ECtHR). We know for example that the ECtHR in 2005 awarded Kurdish deputy Leyla Zana 9000 € from the Turkish government for a landmark Human Rights breach. The court ruled that Turkey had violated her rights of free expression. Zana, who had been recognized as prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and had been awarded the Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament, was jailed in 1994, allegedly for being a member of the outlawed Kurdish based PKK. The court found that she was treated high-handedly by the Turkish court for having spoken Kurdish in public during her parliamentary oath.

In their quest for an independent state the Kurdish people have endured a long history of oppression; in the last century they have fought the Ottomans, the British, and the Baathists. Apart from the Jewish Holocaust and the enslavement of Africans in the Caribbean and North America, I would suggest that no other group of people in the world has endured pain and suffering like the Kurds.  They are sandwiched between four countries in a large Geographic area spawning eastern and south eastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), Northern Syria (Western Kurdistan), Northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan) and North Western Iran (Eastern Kurdistan). According to CIA Fact book, Kurds formed approximately 18% of the population in Turkey (14 million) in 2008. One Western source estimates that up to 25% of the Turkish population is Kurdish (approximately 18-19 million). Kurds constitute approximately 17% of Iraq's population and 7-10 %of Iran's overall population (6.5–7.9 million).

The Kurds are not without natural resources in the region that they occupy and as a result attracted the attention of resource grabbing developed countries and multinational Corporations. Prominent companies active in Kurdistan include Exxon, Total, Chevron, Talisman Energy, Genel Energy, Hunt Oil, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, and Marathon Oil. As you may well imagine, these large multinational corporations are not in the business of liberating people - their main aim is to extract profits and forming strategic business alliances.

Turkey is a founding member of the United Nations (1945) the model of government is a parliamentary representative democracy. Since its foundation as a republic in 1923, the country has developed a strong tradition of secularism. Human rights in Turkey have been the subject of some controversy and international condemnation. Between 1998 and 2008 the European Court of Human Rights made more than 1,600 judgements against Turkey for human rights violations, particularly regarding the right to life, and freedom from torture. Other issues, such as Kurdish rights, women's rights, and press freedom, have also attracted disagreement from the international community and rights based organisations.

 Turkey's human rights record continues to be a significant obstacle to future membership of the EU,  yet the country is one of the most important allies to the US and the European Union based on its geo-political interest and the war on terrorism. In recent time there has been a falling out of relations between Turkey and the Russia. On Monday 25^th November 2015 Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border, alleging that Russia had violated its airspace. Since then there has been a showering of relations with Turkey and as a result the Russian Government, through its associated news network has accused Turkey of secretly buying gas from ISIL and leaving its borders to Syria pours for ISIL to recruit foreign fighters and conduct Terrorist Training camp in Turkey.

This week the English Based version of Russian Television (RT) reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is planning a meeting with the co-leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas , according to sources in the Foreign Ministry. We at Kingston Mouth view this as a sinister move, mainly because of the souring relations recently with Russia and Turkey. Russia’s attempt to woo the Kurds is indeed opportunistic as they are on opposite sides of the proxy war in Syria. Meanwhile, it is not expected that President Obama or the European Union to castigate the Turkish President over Human Rights breaches, as Turkey is a major air base from which the US and its allies launch attack on ISIL in Syria and Iraq. Many Rights group in Europe have chided the EU for agreeing to fund the Turkish Government to the tune of 2 billion EU dollars to manage and house the flood of refugees fleeing war in the region. The Kurdish issue aside, it is fair to suggest that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's rule in Turkey is rapidly becoming an embarrassment to the West and NATO, and Turkey’s international credibility  and record on human rights is diminishing. It seem as if the Turkish President is hell bent on becoming the “two faced Janus” of the Middle East. Nevertheless, he is an untouchable based on the Geo Strategic location in that region and his powerful allies on the UN Security Council have to treat his friendship cautiously.

Surely, the present approach to the Kurds and the Academic Sympathisers has gone the wrong way and it is now time for the UN to send a special envoy to that country to resolve the very complex issues involved in that dispute. A failure to act quickly can only lead to the “Putinisation” of Turkey and Balkanisation of the already troubled Kurdish Region. The Kurds in Iraq have a Regional Government that seems to be working although it’s not perfect. Turkeys hostility towards is Kurdish population can be less belligerent if some arrangement can be brokered. In the interim, Kingston-Mouth condemns the action of President Erdoğan. We urge release of the twelve academics and other journalists held in Turkey and a toning down of the bellicose rhetoric by all parties involved. Now that the Iran deal is more settled it would be advisable for the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, to focus his attention on events in Turkey.

This article was written by Donovan Reynolds CEO and edited by Ann Smith Managing Editor of Kingston-Mouth .com.  Donovan Reynolds is an Independent Blogger and Human Rights Activists who is of a Jamaican descent and a legal academic that has an interest in Human Rights, Culture and International Development Issues.

Understanding the Current Conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran: By Donovan Reynolds-Independent Writer

The beginning of the year was expected to be quiet on the International scene.  Last year the international community attention was unavoidably focused on a preoccupation with ISIL expansion of territory in the Levant. That crisis forced the coming together of an international diplomatic consensus to containing the infamous terrorist assemblage. The historic  Iran nuclear deal that followed seventeen days of almost uninterrupted negotiations was heralded as a good thing .It involved foreign ministers from seven countries – Iran, US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany – along with the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. The agreement was supposed have signalled a thawing of tense relationships within the Middle East. However, before the ink dried on the deal there were uncomfortable utterances from Israel and the Sunni influenced Saudi Arabia about the agreement. In fact Israel Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, moved pre-emptively to criticize the deal even before the final details had emerged.

While Saudi Arabia is one of the US major allies in the region, it has been a relationship purely of strategic necessity. It is for that reason why Saudi Arabia’s King Salman reluctantly sought assurances from U.S. President Barack Obama about the Iran nuclear deal shortly after it was inked. Historically, the relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia has never been a peaceful one, mainly because of the ongoing Shia /Sunni ethnic spat that has divided the region for centuries. Most recently, Saudi Arabia accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and using Hezbollah to interfere in the conflict in Yemen and Syria.  Iran has always been uncomfortable with the cosy relationship that the Saudi’s share with the West. Especially, its expensive arms purchases from the US. Meanwhile, Iran has countered this relationship by forging strategic ties with Russia and President Assad in Syria.

The hatred between both Saudi Arabia and Iran recently deepened with the arrest and execution of prominent Iranian religious Cleric Nimr al-Nimr. He was among those put to death last week in Saudi Arabia on charges of terrorism. Recently, as an act of revenge an angry mob of Iranians vandalised the Saudi embassy   in Tehran: it was set ablaze during the protests against the execution of the popular Iranian cleric. Members of the diplomatic mission hastily evacuated the Embassy and headed for the airport in Tehran as it became apparent that the Iranian security force had not done enough to protect them. At the Airport there were further allegations that they were temporarily held up before they were allowed to leave for Saudi Arabia- a claim that Iranian officials denied; in a hastily held press conference chaired by its Foreign Minister. On Sunday, the immediate severing of relations with Iran was announced by Saudi Arabia after the storming it’s Embassy in Tehran. The Saudi Government alleged in a press briefing that the Iranian Government was a behind the attack on their Embassy. Shortly after the press conference, the Iranian government put out a press release denying any involvement. In the Times of Israel they were quoted as saying that Iran had regretted the attacks on Saudi embassy. The conflict has thrown the region into a Geo-Political frenzy and by Monday Bahrain and Sudan both announced that they severed relations with Iran and the UAE  had also downgraded its diplomatic mission to Iran.

The road to peace in the Middle East has always been a slippery diplomatic slope for the UN, US and Russia. It is worsened by Russia’s and the US involvement backing client states and correspondingly as a result several episodes of inaction by the UN. The ratcheting up of a divisive conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran does not argue well for lasting peace in the Middle East, let alone the diffusion of two major civil wars in that region.. It is quite understandable therefore why the US, the UN and Russia have remained almost silent on the matter. As the diplomatic manoeuvres take place quietly behind the scene, one sobering narrative by the Saudi Foreign Minister emerged. Adel al-Jubeir was quoted by Al-Jazeera on Tuesday that the dispute will not hinder political negotiations over the Syrian conflict expected later this month.

The international community and the peaceful community of nations aligned to the UN   await nervously a speedy diplomatic outcome before this international discord deepens. Central to the thawing of this is the bellicose relationship is President Obama- as he is still welling up his tears and mulling over the difficult but necessary US domestic gun control issue involving armed white ranchers- who have overtaken a federal wildlife building in Oregon.

The Middle East, for a long time, has stretched the interpretation margins of realist foreign policy analysts. The geopolitical manoeuvres in that region have led to an insolvable international security dilemma as it is a region where even political differences and alliances are difficult to describe. For example, the only thing that Iran and Saudi Arabia have in common is a hatred for Israel. We know too that the only thing Israel and Saudi Arabia have in common is a dislike for Hezbollah and Iran. The picture becomes more of a conundrum when you factor in the Palestinian issue and the historical Shia/Sunni ethnic divide. It is a region where the three largest religions in the world coverage and battle over ideas and religious shrines. Making peace in the region is a never ending cat herding exercise. The idea that two of its most powerful actors could descend into war conjures up thoughts of an Armageddon that the world cannot afford to experience.

World War Two was a horrific reminder of how conflicts can damage the planet if left without a speedy resolve. It was estimated that during that period 40,000,000 - 72,000,000 persons died as a result of negligent dithering. The existing League of Nations at the time failed to live up to its mandate of preventing the Second World War atrocities from happening. It is for this reason that, in 1945, fifty one countries signed the UN’s charter to dedicate to maintain international peace and security. Currently the United Nations have 192 members and many peacekeeping operations across the globe. It has a 15 member security Councils in place which include five permanent members.  Most of the five permanent members are involved in proxy wars in the Middle East and have client states that they protect and are beholden to. It is for this reason why it is difficult to have peace in the region as there is always a conflict of interest.

It is absurd to expect the permanent security members fighting proxy wars who have veto powers to adjudicate against their national interest, especially when large oil and arms deals are under the table. It is for this reason why we firmly believe that the Security Council needs to be reformed urgently. Rwanda was rude awakening for all of us and it is   a strong reminder why we should have a credible UN security council. In 1994 the UN Security Council stood with its arms folded over half a million Rwandans that were killed within a hundred days in that country. More recently thousands have been killed in Syria and Yemen in the two current civil wars, and last year we saw the greatest flood of refugees arising from conflicts in the Middle East. The amount of refugees that could emerge as a result of an additional war in that region is unimaginable. This is why Kingston –Mouth, along with other Rights organisations, call for a speedy UN led diplomatic action on this very urgent and risky security matter. The idea that these two powerful oil rich nations in the Middle East could let slip the dogs of war is a scary proposition.

On a more sober note we at Kingston -Mouth expect that the members of the UN Security Council act speedily to resolve this matter. The UN should be reminded in this matter of its mandate under resolution A/53/243 which calls for the promotion of increased understanding, tolerance and cooperation among all peoples, inter alia, through appropriate use of new technologies and dissemination of information.  In this regard, we urge that the UN should not remain silent. The resolution also calls for the supporting of actions that foster understanding, tolerance, solidarity and cooperation among peoples and within and among nations.

In closing, I would like to thank the many readers of Kingston –Mouth who have supported our blog over the past four years. It is our commitment to bring quality commentary on Political and international issues, focusing on themes of Human Rights and global Justice.  Kingston-Mouth is a charitable publication committed to the adherence of principles of freedom, justice, democracy and tolerance. We promote solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all levels of society and among nations. We are keen to spread the doctrine of Human Rights to non-traditional spheres and to bring understanding of Political issues facing Europe, North America, the Middle East and the Caribbean free of cost at the point of delivery. We are grateful for the invaluable contribution of our past editor Kevton Foster and our current editor Ann Smith; both editors have held us to a high standard of quality control and consistency. We wish all our readers a happy New Year as we aspire to broaden our audience and improve the quality of our service delivery.

This article was written by Donovan Reynolds CEO and edited by Ann Smith Managing Editor of Kingston-Mouth .com.  Donovan Reynolds is an Independent Blogger and Human Rights Activists who is of a Jamaican descent and a legal academic that has an interest in Human Rights, Culture and International Development Issues.

The 1963 Coral Gardens Rastafarian Uprising and Proposed Settlement by Donovan Reynolds, Blogger and Independent Writer.

Jamaica is world renowned for its Reggae music gifted to the world by legendary Rastafarians such as Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. The edgy looking Jamaican Rastafarian locks have come to represent the emblem of a rapidly growing rebellion against the status quo so much that it has become normative behaviour and a widely accepted lifestyle choice for many. The Rastafarian movement now has an estimated one million persons scattered across the globe and the movement is still gaining momentum.   Yet the movement emerged from a people on the island of Jamaica who have suffered a history of structural, physical, emotional oppression.

Rastafarians are a set of people rooted in a cultural specific way of life who are indigenous to Jamaica. They clamour for specific rights based on their historical, ancestral and spiritual ties to Africa. Their cultural or historical distinctiveness from other populations is that that are often wear their hair uncombed (a statement of resentment against the status-quo and to assert their common identity) and they uphold Pan-African social and political desires. Most Rastafarians spiritual divinity is rooted in a belief of Haile Selassie as God personified. Their political aspiration is an emotional and, in some cases, physical repatriation to Ethiopia. There are three main pillars of Rastafari: the Bobo Ashanti, the Niyabinghi and the Twelve Tribes of Israel. There are two components of Rastafarianism: the lifestyle and the doctrine. The lifestyle includes wearing a dreadlock hairstyle, eating natural food devoid of sugar, salt and other processed chemical additives; the doctrinal tenet draws in part on the Abrahamic faith. Rastafarians also believe Haile Selassie is God incarnate and that he will return to Africa members of the black community scattered abroad who are living in exile as the result of colonisation and the slave trade.

 In Jamaica, Rastafarians are often despised for their culture.  They are often ridiculed and marginalized, abused, and denied the right to self-determination and to practice their spiritual and cultural beliefs. The state apparatus in Jamaica has long ignored the recognition of Rastafarians in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Jamaican government has shown some sympathy toward the Rastafarian movement yet most of the state’s engagement has been historically patronising. Up until recently there was a lack of political will to protect and promote their full and effective participation in important Human Rights matters that concern them.

While rights organisations in the US and Western Europe have continuously garnered statistical data  about police brutality and stop and search episodes of black and ethnic minorities, the routine stop and search by the Jamaican police of Rastafarians in Jamaica bear no statistical importance. Thus aggrieved Rastafarians are left only to ‘forget their troubles and dance’ according to the Late Robert Nesta Marley. We know that Black Monday refers to Monday October 19th 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed shedding a huge value in a very short time but who the heck cares about ‘Bad Friday’ in 1963 in Coral Gardens?

‘Bad Friday’, 11^th of April 1963, was a very gloomy day in the historic struggles of Rastafarians in Jamaica. The then Prime Minister of Jamaica Sir Alexander Bustamante made an order to the security force to ‘Bring in all Rasta’s, dead or alive!’ Six Rastafarians died and hundreds of others were rounded up, wrongfully arrested tortured and imprisoned. It was a grave crime against humanity that Rastafarians have not forgotten. There has been a long and protracted lobbying of Rastafarians for state reparation and an  official apology by the Government of Jamaica for this atrocity.

Earlier this year in Jamaica, I had the distinguished honour to be introduced by the late Clive “Kuba” to Ras Iyah  V, the President of the Westmoreland Ganja Farmers association.  Ras Iyah  V is  a fervent campaigner for reparation for Rastafarians and the victims of the Coral Gardens atrocities. At the meeting he became very emotive about the JLPs’ involvement with the Coral Garden massacre and the Back O Wall displacement of Rastafarians.  He was unhappy that the victims of both incidents were not offered apologies and reparation. I, too, felt that these incidents were the Achilles heel for the JLP, creating a wedge between the Party and the wider Rastafarian movement. A redeeming feature of those conversations was Ras Iyah V acknowledgement of the JLPs Mike Henry’s contribution to a debate in Montego Bay in 2007 that a Coral Gardens Committee Commission was appointed by the Jamaican government in March 2009.

Ras Iya V and Dub poet Mutabaruka have been at the forefront of social advocacy, actively lobbying Government officials and seeking reparation for victims and survivors of the Coral Garden massacre. The incident was triggered by a land dispute where a Rastafarian was shot, injured and imprisoned unjustly by the criminal justice system at the time. As revenge on his release from prison he started a riot fire by burning a gas station that eventually ended up with a number of fatalities. Eight persons were killed; this included two police men and the rebellion leader.  Incensed by the scale of the riot- the then prime minister ordered the police to restore order by shooting Rastas as on sight. A strong detachment of police from neighbouring parishes was dispatched to Coral Gardens and surrounding areas where more than 150 Rastafarians were rounded up and arrested, beaten and tortured. At the heart of the uprising was social injustice, lands rights, social inequality and the unfair distribution of justice.

Fifty three years later, on the back of constant lobbying, a documentary screening about the Coral Gardens incident premiered at the Smithsonian Institute, resulted in several protesting voices and a public march staged by Rastafarians in Mandela Park. Resulting from a 2009 Government led public enquiry Rastafarian’s voices are only now being heard.

I have voiced my opinion in private with my JLP colleagues about these two incidents and the deportation of Walter Rodney. I am deeply dissatisfied by the manner in which Rodney, a Rastafarian aficionado, was banned from Jamaica when he returned to the island after he attended a black writers' conference in Montreal, Canada in October 1968. The Hugh Shearer led JLP cited, among other things, trips to Cuba and the USSR as justification.  It was an open secret that his growing popularity among the Rastafarian community made the Government very uncomfortable. Speaking through the Political side of my mouth my viewpoint is that, as a party, the JLP need to redeem its credibility with Rastafarians by also offering an unreserved apology.

There is still a failure by the state institutions in Jamaica to ensure the Rastafarian’s right to remain distinct and to pursue their own priorities in economic, social, spiritual and cultural development is protected. Attitudes have begun to shift; Senator Mark Golding, Jamaican Justice Minister, has shown remarkable sensitivity on the rights of Rastafarians. It was at his behest on Monday 2nd June, Cabinet approved certain changes to the law relating to ganja that will in part benefit Rastafarians. Under his watch, approval was given also to a proposal for the decriminalization of the use of small quantities of ganja for religious purposes. This was done on the recommendation of the 2003 Chavannes Report. This will go far in ridding Rastafarians of unwarranted police harassment and criminal convictions that prevent them from access to work, social exclusion and the prevention from overseas travel.

So you all can imagine how the graves of elder scribes of the Rastafarian movement, such as Leonard Howell, Mortimo Planner and Samuel Brown Graves, must have jolted with the news of a final settlement broken by my beloved mentor, Adrian Frater of the Gleaner Western Beuro.   This settlement proposed reparation for the victims and survival of the callous Coral Garden Massacre of 1963. It was reported at a meeting of the St James Parish Council in Montego Bay Jamaica that the Public Defender, Arlene Harrison, presented a member of the Coral Gardens committee with a copy of the enquiry Report. The Public defender stated in her findings that a great discourtesy had been done to many Rastafarians at the time. She outlined a raft of recommendations to be acted upon by the Government of Jamaica, such as an apology from the Government to the injured party. She called for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to take the lead for developing a culturally specific centre for the preservation of Rastafarian culture. Most important, the report, according to Adrian Frater, includes a suggested reparation component of ten million Jamaican dollars to the families and victims of and survivors affected by this historical atrocity. This figure, in my opinion, falls way below the value of compensation that deserves and should be revisited .The matter is now squarely placed in the lap of the Jamaican government to implement these recommendations.

The right of state compensation to the victims and survivors of Coral Gardens are enshrined in Resolution 60/147 of 16 December 2005 of the UN General assembly. The resolution lays out basic principles and guidelines on how the state should act on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law.

The preamble of this UN resolution reaffirms the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. This includes that victims should be treated with compassion and respect for their dignity, have their right to access to justice and redress mechanisms fully respected, and that the establishment, strengthening and expansion of national funds for compensation to victims should be encouraged, together with the expeditious development of appropriate rights and remedies for victims of such atrocities.

Those who know me well will attest to the fact that I have an unswerving bias to the principles of the Jamaica Labour Party. However in terms of human rights I hold principle above my political leanings. The Coral Gardens incident presents a pivotal moment for political convergence for bi-partisan confluence on such an important and sensitive issue. Rastafarians in Jamaica have long been alienated from the political system based upon the way in which they are falsely perceived; they have contributed so much to our rich cultural heritage. The means by which we tackle class prejudice is not by offering comforting political platitudes but by swift and concrete actions that enable a fair distribution of justice. I see within every Rastafarian what I see in myself despite my secular leanings. Out common humanity it what unites us: not how we speak, look and worship. The victory of the Rastafarians in their struggle for equality and the right to self-determination raises the level of our cultural cohesiveness as Jamaicans. It can also reaffirm and adds value to our common heritage. Blessed Love Iyah V.

This article was written by Donovan Reynolds CEO and edited by Ann Smith Managing Editor of Kingston-Mouth .com.  Donovan Reynolds is an Independent Blogger and Human Rights Activists who is of a Jamaican descent and a legal academic that has an interest in Human Rights, Culture and International Development Issues.

Understanding ISIL in the Aftermath of the French Attacks: By Donovan Reynolds Blogger and Independent Writer.

Subsequent to the attacks that killed 130 people in Paris, the French Government decided to deepen its military air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria. French President Francois Hollande took the bearish stance of a war leader and avowed to exact revenge on behalf of the French casualties. Many are of the view that in order to respond appropriately and effectively to the perverse version of Islamic revolution and the fathomless level of wickedness that they commit-we have to first to begin to understand their underlying motives.

ISIL is an intractable insurgent group born under the leadership of Jordan-born Abu Musab al Zarqawi during Iraq's insurgency as of 2003, which was defeated by Arab Sunni tribes in Iraq in 2008, but which then gained momentum when it withdrew to Syria as its state collapsed in 2011. The group is so belligerent that al-Qaeda cut all ties with ISIL in 2014, accusing the group of its failure to consult and "notorious intransigence”. It is estimated that over 20,000 foreign fighters have travelled to Iraq and Syria since fighting broke out in 2011. Muslim leaders around the world have condemned ISIL's ideology and actions, arguing that the group has strayed prodigiously from the path of true Islam and that its engagements do not reflect the religion's true teachings or virtues.

ISIL earns revenue primarily from a number of different sources. illicit proceeds from activities such as bank looting, extortion, control of oil fields and refineries, and robberies of economic assets and illicit taxation of goods and cash that transit its territory where ISIL. It also funds its activities from the proceeds of ransoms gained from numerous kidnappings, donations and its trading of oil to Turkish businessmen.

 Historians and political analysts often attribute the spontaneous factor in the rise of ISIL, as a reaction to the "ancient Shia-Sunni conflict". Some writers has even o exaggerated it as resurrection of the medieval caliphate. ISIL has also confirmed this belief locating its violence as a continuation of the middle ages religious crusades. Others sight American exceptionalism instigating and fuelling civil wars throughout the Islamic world and for the installation of tyrant client regimes in the region. Some political theorist attributes the rise of Islamic fundamentalist such as ISIS to the” Clash of Civilization hypothesis” postulated by the late Samuel Huntingdon. Huntingdon proposed that the new world order will be typified by fault lines between cultures and different civilizational groupings. Extreme interpretation of the current state of Suicidal bombings carried out by young male extremist as a crisis in masculinity. The assumption is that these cruel acts of aggression are perpetuated by lonely male Muslim outsiders translating feelings of rejection into desperate bids for notoriety.

What makes ISIL so frightening to accept, is the extent of its unlimited wickedness and how in a short span of time it functions on both national and transnational levels. Mainly because of its vast networks of cells along with the ability to recruit and manipulate vulnerable young Muslim in the west to join its organisation using the internet as a recruiting tool. The recent past does more to explain the rise of ISIL than the deep past. ISIL is a complex, hybrid 21st-century organisation that poses challenges conceptually as a political unit in the international system.  It is indeed this hybridity that constitutes a transmittable and violent challenge to the West, moderate Muslims and none Muslims around the world.

In the aftermath of ISIL incursion in France and the bombing of a Russian passenger plane over the Sini Desert alleged to have been planted by ISIL operatives. French President Francois Hollande told Russia's Vladimir Putin at a recent meeting in France those world powers must build a "grand coalition" to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants who control swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq. At the recent G20 Summit in Belek, Turkey -US President Obama although jolted by ISIL shootings in France urged a cautious reaction.   When pressed by journalist for “a take-out these bastards approach”. He argued against a shoot first and aim later response. Pressure has been mounting among American right wing politicians for a more robust military intervention to ISIL that should include boots on the ground. The British Prime Minister David Cameron is preparing to take the biggest gamble of his premiership by staging a parliamentary vote on British military action against Isis in Syria this week – despite deep uncertainty over how many Labour MPs will back him in parliament and fears among Syrian citizens about loss of civilian lives.

 Jeremy Corby the British leader of opposition and the Labour party is involved in bitter internal row over whether to vote for airstrikes against Isis in Syria. The rift has expanded as MPs in favour of military action accused Jeremy Corbyn of trying to sidestep his shadow cabinet by appealing to grassroots supporters for their views.

Many pacifists have taken to social media to float the idea that: Western bombing attacks on Syria are not likely to achieve any significant reduction to the chances of terrorist’s attacks by ISIL supporters. They believed that it did not prevent France from being attacked. If anything, they may help to recruit more terrorists. Furthermore there is a US-led 62 coalition partners already in place against Isil and their contribution is already hefty and fraught with confusion and decoupling of roles.

Yet the threat by ISIL is real and the evil brand of ideology that they brandish is aimed at creating divisions among people of the civilised world. It is difficult to fight an idea especially one that is willing to make its perpetrators turn-on themselves to prove their point. The idea of ISIL laying its hands on long range missiles and nuclear weapons is rather cringe worthy and nerve wrecking for intelligence services across the globe.

The days and months ahead will be rather interesting as we sit on the edge of our sofa with a cringing eye on the TV and the other on the sick bucket. We should never forget that history has a way of creating a vacuum for the diffusion of wicked ideologies. If we can recall: Nazism and Fascism threatened our collective security less than a hundred years ago. Today those twin evils are but a faint memory. Let’s fight the scourge of ISIL with self-defence public education and diplomacy. As we look ahead with great uncertainty. Please be comforted by the fact that history has proven that the human race is a resilient specie in the face of pure evil.

This article was written by Donovan Reynolds CEO and edited by Ann Smith Managing Editor of Kingston-Mouth .com.  Donovan Reynolds is an Independent Blogger and Human Rights Activists who is of a Jamaican descent and a legal academic that has an interest in Human Rights, Culture and International Development Issues.

Examining the Rise of Jamaican Dance Hall Genre by Donovan Reynolds, independent writer.

Surely, dance is one of the oldest forms of cultural expression for human beings that can be applied to a variety of settings:  Voltaire said that it could do no harm to the world, Shel Silverstein, in the poem  A Light in the Attic, implores us to do a looney- gloomy dance that has not been done before across the kitchen floor, literary icon Rumi stretched the reason that we should dance to the margins with an audacious set of instructions. He opined , . . . dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free. Our own Jamaican reggae icon Bob Marley left us with the most straightforward of narrative, Forget your troubles and Dance.  Contemporary academic Donna P. Hope writes that dancehall culture is a space for the cultural creation and dissemination of symbols and ideologies that reflect the lived realities of its adherents, particularly those from the inner cities of Jamaica.

How then can we continue to slate the Jamaican Dancehall genre as purely a cultural aberration and a transmitter of debauchery? To what extent does Dancehall music eclipse the success of the Bob Marley influenced Roots Rock Reggae?

Dancehall has made no pretence to be the transmitter of good moral values; it is a hedonistic movement. This short discourse examines the historical trajectory of the genre, mired in controversy yet it constantly defies its critics and rebounds frequently from its low moments. Dancehall music and lifestyle are becoming a mainstay of world popular culture. This discourse examines the characters, controversies, casualties, ambiguities and alliances forged in the Dancehall movement who are the contributors to its success.

This music genre is a Jamaican current popular music form that evolved from reggae in the late 1970s. It has spawned a number of creative and rapidly changing dance moves that has merged with youth popular movement globally. The music itself has generated a number of other varieties of dancehall flavoured influences globally, on the back of its crossover success outside of Jamaica during the mid-to-late 1990. It is inextricably linked to the social and cultural processes by which the Jamaica society reproduces itself internally and externally. Young people in the Jamaican urban centres and across the ethnic enclaves of North America and Europe have grafted the dance hall lifestyle to their persona as they compete for a prime socio cultural space that is often highly competitive lifestyle marketplace. To be a young Dance hall fan bear nuances with being a rocker, a punk or a hippie. To be able to master the art form on the dance floors holds valid social currency and cements your dance hall credo. What once started as seedy underground movement in Kingston Jamaica in the 1970s then extended to a underground movement in North America and Europe and has now been elevated to world cult status across the major dance venues of the world.

Dancehall music and dance movements are inextricably bound; both movements bubbled to the international surface in the 1990s but it was a reasonably long time in the making. It has spawned about three or four generation of Jamaican reggae musicians and dancers in the mid-1980s. It was made famous among the sound systems followers by Lincoln Sugar Minot and Wayne Smiths digital version of Sleng Thing produced by the legendary King Jammy’s.  The 1990 saw a shift in style and context of the genre and Shabba Ranks took the Dance Hall movement to dizzy heights internationally.  Towards the end of the 1990s the genre received bad press when it descended into verbal clashes laced with violent innuendoes and homophobic name-dropping.  Initially, there was friendly competition between DJs and Sound-systems which then descended into an orgy of misogyny, glorification of guns and violent tirades. Towards the end of the 1990s Shabba Ranks and Buju Banton successes had waned as a result of a backlash from the gay right’s lobby across Europe and North America. This period was one of Dancehall’s lowest moments and many commentators predicted that the genre could lose its’ international podium. 

By 2000 the genre emerged from its dogmatic slumber with artists such as Elephant Man and Sean Paul achieving massive crossover success in Europe, North America and Africa. A new generation of young music lovers had arisen and the dancehall movement was conveyed to them culturally by music videos and the internet; the hard-hitting bassline and the dances proved irresistible.  Once again, dancehall was the music of choice for a whole new generation in love with its raunchiness and rebellion as an art form.  Meanwhile, in Jamaica, a debate began to fester that the music had become commercial and intellectually shallow and a host of young cultural and talented reggae artists were being stifled.  It was generally felt that roots rock reggae was becoming a dying vocation. In the early 1990s Tony Rebel inspired a resurgence of cultural reggae music that was accepted by Dancehall aficionados. A number of hard-core Dancehall artists experienced a cultural epiphany and converted to the Rastafarian movement.  It was felt at the time that Dancehall music was inspiring violence and material fetishism; a new moral direction was needed.  As a result, artists such as Garnett Silk, Luciano, Buju Banton and Sizzla enjoyed both international and local notoriety during this period.  Their success may well have extended to the new millennium but it was restricted by the continual opposition to accusations of homophobia from the anti-gay lobby in Europe and North America.  Thus the international spotlight was thrust upon artists who toed the line and stuck to a feel good brand of Dancehall that could merge seamlessly with global popular culture. 

One of the reasons why reggae music in its purest form (roots rock reggae) has lost its international hold to Dancehall music is as a result of Dancehall being a more flexible and liberal art form.  Cultural reggae music is puritanical and in some cases, laced with conservative values and narratives.  In contrast, Dancehall is a more dynamic genre that can fuse with numerous music genres such as Pop, R & B, Latino beats, Garage, Drum ‘ Bass, Jazz and Grime.  Dancehall‘s commercial success is stymied by narratives of hegemonic masculinity  and by the same token it offers the female protagonist a social space to escape and rebel . Women gyrate their hips, dress, and dance outrageously in an ever expanding  corpus that fits neatly into the capitalist wold view of commodity fetishism.

The future of Dancehall is very promising as the new millennium has seen the development of professional reggae dancers earning a living from live videos and teaching the dance moves to a global audience. Many professional Jamaican dancers point to Gerald Bogle Levy as the first internationally acclaimed superstar who brought choreography, ingenuity, excitement and a creative and catchy inflection to the dancehall movement. Mr Wacky as he was often called was the Dancehall Master.  He had the ability to create dances without exertion and his dances became exceedingly popular and catchy. He created dance styles such as Willie Bounce, Wacky Dip, and Bogle Dance and these dance moves still hold sway over the dance floors globally; they are a timeless rhapsody that has contributed immensely to the magnetic pull of the ever expanding genre. Unfortunately, on 20 January 2005, forty- year old Bogle and four others were in his car at a petrol station when two men on a motorcycle rode by, shooting into the vehicle.  Bogle died from the bullet wounds. Dance hall like Hip Hop music has its fair share of tragedy sparked by rivalry. In 1990 two reggae icons Pan Head and Dirtsman died by the gun in separate tragic incidents in Kingston Jamaica. Contemporary Dancehall artist Vybs  Kartel is now serving life imprisonment for the murder of Clive 'Lizard' William at his home in Havendale, a suburb north of Kingston.  He was sentenced on 3 April 2014 and will not be eligible for parole for 35 years. Vybs Kartel is a hugely talented Dancehall artist who is revered internationally for an impressive catalogue of hits that generated a huge fan base. His trial was the longest in the history of Jamaica and his conviction plunged the Dancehall genre in a reputation freefall.

Nevertheless, the reputation of dance hall has emerged from the Vybs Kartell saga unscathed with Tessanne Chin,  one of the latest reggae fusion artists.  She rapidly achieved international fame following her win on The Voice, a U.S. television singing competition. A positive development in Dancehall is the collaboration of the art-form with other music genres; every Pop, R&B and Hip- hop artist in in North America and Europe that’s worth their grain of salt has sampled reggae tracks. It’s the current trend. Searching for the next Bob Marley to emerge is a romantic idea that is not entirely impossible but difficult to realise at this time. The world dance music market is receptive to hedonistic feel good vibes although this news might be an anathema to the left leaning music loving liberal. Conversely, Dancehall has brought joy and electricity to the feet and hips of a young generation who are politically apathetic to message music.

This article was written jointly by Donovan Reynolds CEO and edited by Ann Smith Managing Editor of Kingston-Mouth .com.  Donovan Reynolds is an Independent Blogger and Human Rights Activists who is of a Jamaican descent and a legal academic that has an interest in Human Rights,Culture and International Development Issues.

 

Damion Crawford and the Jamaica Version of the Leviathan by Donovan Reynolds Blogger and independent writer.

Damion Crawford, the current Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment, was a few weeks ago defeated by businessman Peter Blake in a delegate’s election to represent the governing People's National Party (PNP) in a rural constituency in the next Jamaican general election.  Crawford is a Rastafarian with Christian beliefs. In a past article I reprimanded him for launching a scathing attack on the emerging secular movement in Jamaica. However, on balance, I believe that he is one of the best and well-meaning political representative the country has ever seen, mainly because of his emphasis on education and his aberration of pork barrel politicking.

According to a recent editorial (The Jamaica Observer), parliamentarians and those aspiring to sit in the Legislature, are seen more as benefactors than facilitators. They are required to offer scarce benefits: cash, lunch money, liquor, building materials, school books, uniforms, bags and other supplies as well as contracts. Crawford’s political demise mainly stemmed from his attempts to change the entrenched culture of patronage too quickly. Crawford focused the spending of his meagre constituency development funds on investments in education for children and young people.

The lifelong unending and edgy desire for power is a fundamental quality shared by all humans within a state. Along with that power acquisition is fear that peoples corrupt political power acts as a counterbalance to the appetite for progressive reforms within a state, often for selfish reasons. This sometimes prevents well-meaning political representatives from benefitting from a second term in political office. Such tensions and ambivalence in politics often give rise to the question, are ordinary citizens capable of making good decisions using the democratic process or should they be ruled by an absolute monarch or dictator? There has been a long running discussion in Jamaica that the Westminster system of politics and government has not served the country well. There is a glaring need for capacity building and strengthening of political intuitions. Not only does the country need the best Political talented individuals but also the best quality political delegates who choose and support these candidates.

Jamaica is highly regarded as the sporting and cultural mecca of the global south, with an array of talented persons covering a wide range of disciplines at international standards. However, a third of the Jamaican population are functionally illiterate. Corruption of public and private individuals is rife and it has an appalling debt to GDP ratio of132.72 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product according to recent World Bank statistics.

 Thomas Hobbs, the 17th Century Philosopher, while arguing in favour of an absolute monarchy, advised that for self-preservation men should enter a contract by which they agree to surrender part of their natural freedom to an absolute ruler.  He asserted that men by nature are brutish, wild and ungovernable. He asserted that this contract should be entered into as the nature of men is to seek nothing but selfish pleasures; such individualism naturally leads to a war in which every man's hand is against his neighbour. He advises that men should be governed by an unelected yet intelligent central authoritative figure. These opinions were framed against the backdrop of the English civil war.

This advice holds true in some ways for Jamaica, being embroiled in an almost economic civil war since its independence from British Colonial rule since 1962. There are long protracted feelings that the Westminster model of political democracy is high unsuitable for fledgling democracies such as Jamaica as they are riddled with institutional corrupt practices.  Many ideas have been floated to include a coalition arrangement with the two major political parties: the JLP and the PNP. Neither of them has bothered to promote a reform agenda as they both benefit from the current system. Former Jamaican Prime Minister, P.J Patterson, described the state of this Political and economic civil war as, "the fight for scarce benefits and spoils carried on by hostile tribes that sem to be perpetually at war".  

Development plays a central role in reducing corruption and resolving political conflict in third world countries such as Jamaica. Hostile political tribes often emerge from a lack of political will to engender a credible value system that can unify and transform those who are vulnerable to either poverty or greed. With money in short supply, Members of Parliament such as Damion Crawford are faced with the dilemma of whether to feed or to educate in order to remain in power. Many politicians in Jamaica owe their careers and status to corrupt delegates and few of them, if any, will take a stand against it, either for fear of upsetting their own careers or the political status quo.

The way forward to stamping out corruption in Jamaican political institutions is not a linear one. A feasible solution to retaining well-meaning and bright Politicians like Damion Crawford and Christopher Tufton in Jamaica is to not employ a Leviathan political dictatorship approach; culling the delegates list of the two main political organisations will help to strengthen and improve political integrity. Currently the link between political aspirants and delegate’s power is having a direct and uneasy relationship that needs fixing.

 I therefore suggest a reform of the political delegate process using national laws aimed at improving overall efficiency capacity and institutional integrity. I also propose that, as part of a broad raft of electoral reforms, both parties sit with the political ombudsman and agree on a legal framework of standards to apply when selecting party delegates. At the moment, both political parties are saddled with delegate lists that have dubious, incompetent and corrupt delegates who have their own self-interest at heart. Yes I have said it! A majority of the current delegates are ignorant, selfish and unscrupulous money makers. The great Greek philosopher Plato, in The Republic stated: money-makers are tiresome company, as they have no standard but cash value.”  Let’s get rid of them.

This article was written jointly by Donovan Reynolds CEO and edited by Ann Smith Managing Editor of Kingston-Mouth .com.  Donovan Reynolds is an Independent Blogger and Human Rights Activists who is of a Jamaican descent and a legal academic that has an interest in Human Rights and International Development Issues.