‘I don’t want to be fine in a society where 90% are not’
Grenadian PM Dickon Mitchell calls on Caribbean leaders to put service above self and uplift citizens
“HI, I am Dickon Mitchell,” he said with hand outstretched at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, arriving with no fanfare, airs or stuffiness.
Just three months after taking the reins of government in Grenada, Mitchell engaged in a wide-ranging discussion with The Sunday Gleaner last week, agreeing to the sit-down at short notice.
Mitchell became leader of the National Democratic Congress two months after deciding to enter public service, having spent two decades in private practice as a lawyer. Nine months later, he was being sworn in as prime minister in what appeared to be a massive return on investment in politics.
He laughed at the assessment, and agreed that it might be “somewhat of a record in the region”.
Tall with a skinny, boyish frame and a ready laugh, there was nothing juvenile about his position on fundamental Caribbean issues.
Born and raised in Grenada, the 44-year-old father of two said he received all his education in the region, receiving his primary and secondary education in Grenada before doing tertiary studies at the Cave Hill, Barbados-based campus of The University of the West Indies and the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago.
In March 1979, when the New Jewel Movement (NJM), led by a young, charismatic democratic socialist named Maurice Bishop, overthrew the regime of the country’s first prime minister, Eric Gairy, in a bloodless coup, Mitchell was just a toddler. And when Bishop himself was murdered by leftist elements within the NJM in 1983, Mitchell was five years old.
In Bishop’s Grenada, socioeconomic development, education and black liberation were at the forefront of the mission to refashion the young nation, which gained independence from Britain in 1974.
Nearly four decades later, Mitchell’s vision for Grenadians embraces Bishop’s dreams.
STRONGER REGIONAL INTEGRATION
He sees socio-economic empowerment, education and stronger regional integration, especially one which makes travel intra-regionally much easier, as key ambitions.
Memories of the bloody revolution in which several Cabinet ministers were executed are still strong and for some Grenadians today, even more painful as the remains of some of their loved ones were never found, Mitchell told The Sunday Gleaner.
“I don’t think it’s a ghost. I think, to some extent, it’s being reborn. I think the tragedy of the Grenada revolution is the fact that things tend to start where they begin. Power was taken by the force of arms. We never had general elections and there was no opportunity for the resolution of disputes via the legitimacy of the people. Instead, we ended up with a situation where we imploded and, obviously, the use of violence did not resolve issues,” he proffered.
“I think many of the aspirations, ideals and dreams of the revolution still live on in many citizens, and I think it’s an opportunity for us to rekindle that now, not just through volunteerism, but the involvement of the Grenadian diaspora and what I would call unleashing the youth talent of Grenadians,” Mitchell explained.
“For our respective Caribbean islands to move forward, we have to galvanize the energies of our people, for if we don’t, we will end up in this kind of stalemate where we just tinker, tinker, tinker and not really progress. So, I certainly don’t think it’s a ghost,” said Mitchell, who is in Jamaica as a special guest of the People’s National Party for its 84th Annual Conference.
SPIRIT OF THE REVOLUTION
“Part of our campaign was to rekindle the spirit of the revolution, and on Maurice’s birthday, we paid tribute to his spirit and I think that resonated with a lot of people who were involved in the revolution, because many of them are still scarred by the way it ended. Many still have emotional issues.
“Maurice’s body and many of the others killed have never been properly buried to date and the immediate families don’t know where their remains are,” he added.
Mitchell said he is not fearful of a peaceful revolution happening again in the country – and the region – as too many institutions exist to sustain themselves, rather than lift up the poor “and those doors have to come down”.
“If you have been a prime minister for 20 years, you should be able to increase people’s income per capita, increase for the betterment of the health sector, the education system, the infrastructure. I am not saying it’s easy, not saying you will not have setbacks, but there should be at least steady progress,” he said.
“Too often someone says ‘I have been prime minister for 20 years’, and you ask, ‘What is the state of the country when you found it compared to when you are leaving it?’ The education system is crumbling, more people are on social welfare and there is increase in poverty and yet still we claiming great politicians.”
He believes that Caribbean people, collectively, deserve better.
“I don’t want to be fine in a society where the other 90 per cent are not,” he stated.
He said politicians are often viewed negatively because of their inability to apologise and admit wrong. Too many reinforce their wrong with stubbornness, he stated, as he made an appeal to those interested in making a real difference to step forward and embody service above office.