"I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if they only knew they were slaves" is a quote attributed to notable abolitionist Harriet Tubman, leader of the Underground Railroad. However, there is no historical basis that leads us to believe this is something she said, and that's especially true when the records indicate that she was responsible for liberating about 300 slaves. We like the quote however, for it could very well be attributed to us and our existence in Dominica.
The political leadership of the opposition United Workers Party organized and orchestrated a March in Roseau to highlight our collective plight. First let me say that we at MiTC fully endorsed this Patriotic March on Roseau. We Dominicans have been talking for far too long; other strategies must be employed. MiTC is happy with the turnout but we remain unfulfilled. We hoped that far more Dominicans would have shed their fears and step forward to be counted but we are content with the fact that more than a spattering of our citizens joined in this action. A journey of a thousand miles, after all, begins with a single step, as the saying goes. The seed has been sown, let us pray that this tree proves to be bountiful.
Social media is replete with photographs documenting the March. Our brothers and sisters appear content in their actions and we must commend the uniformed police officers present for ensuring that our fellow men and women exercised their constitutional rights and were secure in so doing. However, in what appears to be an instance of one hand giveth while the other hand taketh away, we are concerned by the degree espionage being undertaken by plain clothes police.
In reviewing photographs posted on Facebook by various citizens, we observed an individual who we knew to be a police officer trailing marchers. We forwarded the photographs to one of our contacts at Police Headquarters and we were informed that the individual in the photograph was Fixton Henderson, son of noted radiopersonality Felix Henderson, and a member of the police CID department.
PO Fixton Henderson shadowing and photographing protestors |
Officer Henderson we learnt joined the March at its inception and shadowed the protestors throughout, all the while snapping photographs of its participants. We are not going to bother ask why, we already know why the government of Dominica, through the CDPF, felt it necessary to take the our photographs. What we are concerned about is this; what are they going to do with it? Has Roosevelt Skerrit now elevated his systematic violation of our constitution as well as the abuse of us all to the degree where he has now instructed Daniel Carbon to assemble dossiers on those of us who oppose his dictatorial regime?
This is not hyperbole. Mr. Skerrit has studied the tactics of the world's most repressive regimes, some of which are his friends, and he appears to be taking a page out of their books for use in Dominica. This blatant case of domestic espionage on political opponents is the stuff that goes on in China, Venezuela, and Morocco, to name a few. Muammar Ghadafi was a profligate spymaster.
Dominicans need to be more vocal in opposition to this brutal regime who seems to know no bounds when the abuse of the country's citizens are concerned. These seemingly innocuous actions by Mr. Skerrit cannot go unchallenged; this is the modus operandi of dictators. They keep you begging so that you constantly remain in their grasp. What do you think the Red Clinic is really about? This is institutionalized slavery. Should you insist on resisting, they will assemble a dossier on you to ensure that they know everything about you and your whereabouts and should the day arrive when Mr. Skerrit determines that you are a threat to him and his one man rule, he will instruct Mr. Carbon to pick you up and have you silenced.
We need to appreciate how dangerous this is. Speaking to Labourites, they are quick to point out that the ruling DLP government was elected into office, but so was Saddam Hussein. This analogy, as simple as it is, very often escapes them. The point is this; elections mean nothing if they are not free and fair. No one with any integrity would dare declare our elections of 2014 as well as the by-election in the Soufriere constituency as being free of any irregularities; in fact, they were both paid for through bribes, promises of employment and deliveries of merchandise purchased with government purchase orders. In other words, the Roosevelt Skerrit government stole money from the country's treasury in order to pay for their victories in these "elections". This is a crime, which they've been getting away with, but will one day have to account for.
You can rest assured that the house in Veille Case, the buildings in Roseau, the Villas at Savanne Paille, the homes owned by Reginald Austrie and other government ministers, including Rayburn Blackmoore who we have been told (by a highly reliable confidential source) is the owner of this new multi-story structure going up behind Astaphans department store, will one day become state property.
New multi-story building going up in Roseau, believed to belong to Mahaut MP Rayburn Blackmoore. |
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