Dictatorship contravenes Accompong Town Maroon Constitution
THE LACK of recognition by the Jamaican Government of the Accompong Town Maroons’ claim to sovereignty is part of a geopolitical issue that is a source of much-impassioned debate and anger.
A stand-off earlier this year between the Accompong Maroons, led by Chief Richard Currie, and some members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, as well as the utterance by National Security Minister Horace Chang questioning the existence of “Maroon land”, tossed the issue of Maroon sovereignty back into the spotlight.
On February 16, 2004, the Trelawny Town Maroons of the Sovereign State of Accompong concluded and adopted into law their own constitution, which is not influenced by or connected to the Jamaican Constitution, and vice versa. It was originally drafted by then colonel, Meredie Rowe, in 1998. The second draft was prepared on January 7, 2004.
If recent claims by some residents in Accompong Town that Chief Currie is a “dictator” whose autocratic actions are supported by a band of henchmen, are true, this constitution is being contravened.
The Introduction says, “After numerous revisions of the constitution to incorporate the views of the community, a number of public meetings were held with members of the community to finalise the constitution”, which was prepared by The Accompong Town Constitution Committee and the Council of Overseas Maroons Inc.
The preamble clearly states, inter alia, that the constitution “is ordained by the Trelawney Town
Treaty of 1738-39”.
The constitution committee included Coral B. Barnett (chair), Harris N. Cawley (vice-chair), Kern K. Austin (secretary), Robert N. Cawley (assistant secretary), Ditty S. Cawley, Melville D. Currie, Sidney Peddie, Rupert Robinson, Garfield Rowe, Reverend Io Smith and Carlington G. Wallace.
In addition to the preamble, the document has eight articles consisting of subsections. Articles I to VIII govern the legislative branch, crimes and punishments, transactions, land, elections, limitations, assets, signatories and government signatories, in that particular order. It was witnessed by A. Robinson, W. Anderson, and M. Currie, and signed by Sidney Peddie, then colonel of the Trelawney Town Maroons of the Sovereign State of Accompong, and Veronica Smith-Harris, JP, and then principal of Accompong Primary and Junior High School.
On the leadership hierarchy, the office of the colonel is at the same level of the Full Maroon Council, under which the Board of Elders and the Council of Overseas Maroons operate. The office of the deputy colonel sits below that of the colonel’s. It functions above the colonel’s executive cabinet, various ministerial offices, the treasurer and the secretary of state. The Full Maroon Council is the oversight committee responsible for making sure everything is transparent and in order, and for coordinating elections.
WILL OF THE PEOPLE
It is interesting to note that the constitution does not give absolute power to the colonel nor to the Full Maroon Council. The preamble states that the colonel and/or the Full Maroon Council “… shall make no law representing an establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”.
The colonel does not have sole power and/or authority to enter into any agreement on behalf of the people without the consent of the Full Maroon Council.
The preamble also states that: “It is customary and traditional that the colonel does not have the right to enter into any transaction or agreement on behalf of the Trelawny Town Maroons of the Sovereign state of Accompong without the approval of the Council.”
This constitution, then, is a clear indication that the Accompong Town Maroons regard themselves an autonomous set of people who are not subjected to the laws and by-laws of Jamaica.
But it also implies in no uncertain terms that the chief or colonel cannot be a dictator. He or she is subject to the will of the people.