(delivered at the thanksgiving service for Victor praising his outstanding political contribution to Anguilla’s advancement, held at the Ebenezer Chapel, the Valley, on 25 July, 2020, with minor revisions to the text)
EARLY PERIOD – 1980 – 1984: FIRST ACHIEVEMENTS
It was January or February, early in 1980. General elections were due within a few months, certainly within the first half of 1980. The campaign season was moving into full gear. These would be the first elections after the inaugural elections of 1976 under Anguilla’s new constitution, approved and brought into force in 1976, effectively giving Anguilla its own representative government, in direct association with Britain as an Overseas Territory.
The General Elections would see a head on test of the political muscle and the degree of continuing support for the Hon. James Ronald Webster, the Father of the Nation, and his political machine, that went under the name People’s Progressive Party in the 1972 and the 1976 General Elections. His opponents would be the upstart political machine of Sir Emile Gumbs and his colleagues, cobbled together for the 1980 elections, in an effort to solidify and organize their support in a political environment in which Mr. Webster commanded the love and loyalty of by far the majority of the Anguillian electorate, in comparison to anyone else.
The triumvirate of rebels who left Mr. Webster and his PPP high and dry were the late Hon. Sir Emile Gumbs, the late Hon. Albena Lake-Hodge and the late Hon. Idahlia Gumbs. In the first half of 1977 these three PPP members had been convinced to support a Motion of No Confidence against Mr. Webster, strongly promoted by the Hon. Hubert Hughes. The motion was successful in the House of Assembly, bringing down Mr. Webster’s PPP Government and leading to the first stint of Sir Emile Gumbs as the Chief Minister of Anguilla, 1977 – 1980. This was even before his Anguilla National Alliance was put together as a political party.
I had returned to Anguilla in October 1977 from Manchester University, keen and passionate to make my contribution to the building of the New Anguilla as a civil servant. I supported the Revolution, but not the tendencies towards extremes, figuring that the middle ground would hold out the best hope for Anguilla to progress rapidly, but at the same time, in a structured way, towards realizing the vision of the New Anguilla of our revolutionary pioneers. So I threw in my lot with what was in effect a rib from the PPP, led by Sir Emile, that in 1980 became the Anguilla National Alliance.
Out of the blue, as it were, I get a message from Victor Banks in January or February. I think it was via his brother Val. Victor’s message was that Mr. Webster had reached out to him and asked him to return to Anguilla to get involved in the politics of Anguilla and more specifically in the 1980 elections.
I was in a quandary as I thought about it. Victor and I did not speak directly on the issue. Telecoms in Anguilla had moved from the Dark (and deaf) Ages to the Middle Ages. I was concerned that from a long term perspective it would be risky parachuting into the heart of the 1980 election cycle. This would have meant that if he contested the elections he would have to rely almost 100% on the personal appeal of the Father of the Nation as he would not have had any time before the elections to build his own base of support. At the same time, I recognized that Victor would be a great addition to any team of political actors vying for the opportunity to administer the government of the People of Anguilla.
I did not discuss this with anyone, perhaps mentioned it to Verna. It was between Victor and me with Val as the conduit. I really do not recall what my response was in specifics, but the concern uppermost in my mind was that for the long term, Victor would need to create his own base of support. And that would take some time. Victor answered Mr. Webster’s call anyway and came in during the election campaign as a team member in a political advisory capacity.
So I was glad when he did not contest in 1980, which Mr. Webster and his team contested as the Anguilla United Movement (adopting the name of Hon. Hubert Hughes political machine that he sought to launch after the Motion of No Confidence of 1977). But it was really Mr. Webster’s team. They won six out of the seven seats, only Sir Emile managing to hold on to his seat. Little did Victor or I expect that within a year he would be called on to go before the electorate as the candidate in District 3 for the Anguilla People’s Party, the latest version of Mr. Webster’s political organization, against the Hon. Eric Reid, who in 1981 was on his third time around the political stake, only to lose to Mr. Banks.
The collapse of the 1980 Government of Mr. Webster was the second time around that the Hon. Hubert Hughes was responsible for scuttling the Government of the Hon. James Ronald Webster, after the 1976 Constitution was brought into force. Two for two. Political sociologists and historians will need to delve into this to seek to discover and analyze the reasons for Hon. Hubert Hughes bringing down the Webster Governments.
So Victor became a Minister in Mr. Webster’s Government of 1981 – 1984, not as the Minister of Finance, but as the Minister of Social Services. His service as Minister of Finance was to come years later.
So how did Victor and I relate in Government, after he became a Minister in 1981? I a known ANA stalwart and part of the brains thrust of the Party and Victor an elected member of the Anguilla People’s Party and a Minister in Mr. Webster’s Government. Simple and principled. He put country above self and party and I put country above self and party. That allowed us to come together with Mr. Webster and Colville Petty and Timothy Hodge in our first major project and perhaps the greatest collaboration on which we have worked for the socio-economic protection, resilience and advancement of the People of Anguilla – the establishment of the Anguilla Social Security Board and the Social Security System that it manages.
Mr. Webster may have conceived the idea, but Victor at the political level and Tim, Colville and I at the administrative and technical levels were the midwives that saw to the birth of that baby.
Mr. Banks, on behalf of all of the People of Anguilla, I proffer profound thanks to you and express my deep gratitude for your invaluable contribution to the establishment and development of our Social Security System. It is a huge part not only of Mr. Webster’s legacy as a politician, but also of yours. (Stand and give him a hand).
The interest of the People of Anguilla should always transcend party lines and loyalties, in a principled way, and also transcend personal political ambition.
EVOLUTION OF A TALENTED, SUCCESSFUL AND EXEMPLARY LEADER
I read somewhere, I think it is in one of the biographies of the apostle of non-violence, the great Mahatma Gandhi, that if we are truly to serve the best interest of others we need to subdue our own personal and narrow ambitions, in favour of the general good. To me this means that we should not seek to justify our personal ambitions for private gain, of whatever kind, by claiming that what is good for our ego or our pockets or our emotional gratification is also good for the people, in this case, the People of Anguilla. Gandhi characterized the subjugation of personal ambitions in a politician, or other public figure or social activist, in favour of the general good, as developing and having an “absence of desire”. Yes, an “absence of desire”: for praise, wealth, power, position, or whatever the individual may be seeking in the process of public life, those ambitions and desires subdued in favour of working for the greater good.
I believe that Victor has demonstrated an “absence of desire” in this sense. In fact, I know that he has developed that personality trait, “an absence of desire”. The best illustration of this, that I can think of, is his attitude towards the question of his elevation to the leadership of the Government of Anguilla in the position of Chief Minister/Premier and his responses to those who actively pushed for this outcome.
I am sure that Victor did not arrive at the position overnight whereby the leadership of the Anguilla Government was no longer a personal goal to be vigourously pursued and achieved. It is a testament to his growth and maturity as, truly, a man of the people that after a time, becoming Chief Minister or Premier no longer assumed priority with him.
I have to confess that I was one of those who felt that he was shortchanged twice in his political career between 1994 and 2010, first by Chief Minister Hughes and later by Chief
Minister Osbourne Fleming, in relation to passing the mantle of leadership of Anguilla to the Hon. Victor Banks, in keeping with promises made. But power is sweet and when one has tasted it, many an individual has no desire to give it up.
Victor was the one least concerned and least passionate about taking over from either Mr. Hughes or Mr. Fleming. He is the one who decided that the interest of Anguilla as a whole was more important than him becoming Chief Minister, even if that was the promise made or the plan initially agreed on. In both instances, it is Victor who ensured political peace and stability and prevented infighting within the Governments of the Hon. Hubert Hughes and the Hon. Osbourne Fleming and also within the ranks of the Anguilla United Front.
Victor, in this way, you once again made a huge contribution to the development of Anguilla by contributing to the development of a more mature and tolerant and less adversarial political culture in Anguilla.
I, for one, have always been concerned that we should evolve and create a more civil and harmonious and less rancourous and tribalistic political culture, than has been the historical experience of our experiments in democracy here in the Caribbean countries, who share in common, the Westminster parliamentary heritage. The tempering of your personal political ambition is a lesson for all of us, especially the next generation of politicians. I hope they will seek you out to gain from your experience and above all from your insights on the principles and ideas that should guide our political practice.
EPIC COMEBACK TO LEAD ANGUILLA IN A TIME OF VERY GREAT NEED
But you know, God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. I verily believe, Mr. Banks, that your political fortunes from 1994 to 2020 represent the working of the hand of God. And I am no zealot, no prophet, but simply seeking to discern a thread that neither you nor any of us could have woven, through this part of your political story, only God.
The greatest boxers are not those who were never defeated, though that is great, but those who came back from defeat and made an indelible mark on the “sweet science” of boxing. Well you came back from defeat in the “sweet science” of political pugilism to cap your legacy and leave very big shoes for those who will follow you.
God works in mysterious ways.
Hubert reneged on the plan for you to take over from him, as Chief Minister, midway in the 1994 – 1999 term of the AUM-ADP coalition Government. And when the AUM-ADP coalition floundered after the 1999 elections and you left the reconstituted AUM-ADP coalition after those elections and were standing all alone, deserted by your ADP colleague, Hon. Edison Baird, the Holy Spirit must have spoken to the hearts of the leaders of the Anguilla National Alliance. And so, over many months, the ADP’s and the
ANA’s leadership forged a principled United Front that gave Anguilla its best eight years economically since ministerial government was instituted in 1976, from 2000 to 2007. Yes, the Anguilla United Front swept to power in the 2000 elections and won a second term in the 2005 elections. And, in this period that saw the greatest rate of expansion in the economy, the man at the wheel of the economic ship of Anguilla was none other than the Hon. Victor Franklin Banks.
The Great Recession starting in Anguilla, as early as the middle of 2008 on the AUF’s watch, hit us all hard. And so, the People of Anguilla decided to try the AUM in the 2010 elections. You, Victor, suffered defeat. But instead of your political story ending at that point, your AUF colleagues decided that you should continue as the AUF’s Political Leader. Thanks is due, in particular, to the Hon. Evans McNiel Rogers, another one who like you is an exemplar of the “absence of desire”, for he without hesitation called for you to continue as leader.
So you had five years of relative rest, 2010 – 2015. And you came back in 2015 with a roar and steered the good ship Anguilla, along with your capable crew, through the rough and stormy seas that the AUM Government of 2010 – 2015 found it extremely difficult to successfully navigate.
The people of Valley South brought you back in 2015 with a resounding and reverberating victory in the 2015 elections. And you assumed the mantle of Chief Minister and captain of a talented crew.
And so, between April 2015 and June 2020, Anguilla got:
1) the Banking Resolution (with the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla as its centerpiece;
2) the reunification of Cap Juluca under Belmond;
3) the re-opening of Malliouhana;
4) the arrival of Four Seasons at Barnes Bay, with all its limitations a very positive development;
5) the comprehensive programme for Anguilla’s recovery from Irma;
6) the UK Government’s unprecedented financial support for the renewal of our public infrastructure involving not only the 60 million pounds but additional capital grants that when all is said and done could take the total well past 100 million pounds of grant support
7) four years in succession Anguilla voted the best island in the Caribbean by the readers of Travel and Leisure – unprecedented; and
8) less well known achievements laying the foundations and platforms for:
i) Residency by Investment;
ii) A Special Economic Zone to exploit ICT technologies;
iii) A framework to develop a marine industry;
iv) Improved opportunities to leverage the “.ai” domain name and intellectual property;
v) The outstanding response to COVID-19; and
vi) The quite large grant of EC$100,000,000 in budgetary support from the UK Government to the end of 2020 to keep the Anguilla public services running.
Who can or will top such an amazing and unique record of achievement by you and your colleagues? You have indeed led the creation of and have now passed on a rich platform to the current administration on which to build.
Thank you Victor. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Rise and give the Hon. Victor Franklin Banks a round of applause to raise the roof of this oldest of Methodist chapels in the Caribbean, his place of worship of Almighty God.
– Contributed
