Apology due to Senator Kamina Johnson Smith
Dear Editor,
I am disturbed by the Jamaica Observer editorial on Sunday, June 27, 2021 demanding an apology from the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamina Johnson Smith. It is deeply unsettling that she should be called upon to apologise to former Senator A J Nicholson, and your call on the minister to apologise is as distasteful as the e-mail at the heart of the matter.
Is it not concerning that a former senator, whose only dealing with Minister Johnson Smith was years ago, and generally once per week, at the meetings of the Senate, would transmit e-mail containing the words, “RAPE…REAL… RAPE” and “KARMA? MORE TO COME”? What more was to come?
Minister Johnson Smith responded by telling former Senator A J Nicholson that not only did she not understand his assertions, but also that he should cease and desist from e-mailing her as his correspondence caused her to feel extremely uncomfortable at best and, at worst, threatened.
The only decent course of action would have been to apologise and comply with Minister Johnson Smith’s demand. Yet,
Nicholson’s response was that he was “satisfied” that his e-mail had “hit the spot”. Only a person blinded by political loyalty would believe that the duty to apologise falls on Minister Johnson Smith.
Former Senator Nicholson has given considerable years of public service. However, in this instance, as with the flexi-rape comment, he was out of line. From what I have seen in the public domain, Minister Johnson Smith has told no lie and should be the recipient of a full apology tendered by him. I doubt it would offer her any solace, but at least it would be a teachable moment on the conduct of appropriate or proper exchanges between parliamentarians and indeed all Jamaicans.
Jason Anderson Kingston 8