Fellow Anguillians, yesterday, Tuesday the 23rd day of May 2023, was a sad day in the history of politics in Anguilla. All of Anguilla, its diaspora, and, indeed , the international community have by now had sight of a video recording of an incident which took place involving an Anguillian citizen and three Ministers of Government: Hon. Mrs. Quincia Gumbs-Marie, Hon. Mr. Haydn Hughes, Hon. Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers and the Parliamentary Secretary Hon. Mr. Merrick Richardson.
Since yesterday afternoon up to the time of this public statement, all of the Opposition Members in the Anguilla House of Assembly have been inundated with calls and messages from various persons within and outside of Anguilla: young persons, middle and older-aged persons, APM supporters, AUF supporters and non-party affiliated individ uals. And every one of those calls and messages have been in relation to the reprehensible behavior and cond uct of the said Ministers of Government, and in particular the Minister of Sustainability, Innovation and Environment, Hon. Mrs. Quincia Gumbs-Marie (“Mrs. Gumbs-Marie”).
As leaders in our country, District and Island Wide elected representatives in our own right, the Members of Opposition have deemed it not only fit and proper, but indeed our moral obligation to deliver this message to our people of Anguilla.
Let me first say that we disapprove of the behavior of the Anguillian citizen, Mr. Lake. More importantly, we condemn the language and actions of Mrs. Gumbs-Marie in particular based on her position as a Minister of Government, an Elected Representative and a leader in this country. What we all heard so clearly were the vile curse words, the threats to bury Mr. Lake and indeed to “kill” him.
Fellow Anguillians, there is no society in this world which could excuse or pardon words such as these emanating from a Minister’s mouth towards any ordinary citizen. Even more disheartening was the fact that just yesterday morning the Opposition Members sat in the House of Assembly and fully and unequivocally supported the Motion to Form a Select Committee on Gun Crime and Violence which was brought to the House by the Honourable Member for Road North, Mr. Merrick Richardson. The discussion in the House surrounded not only gun violence, but all forms of violence; the use of words of hate or love to build or destroy; the need for all of members of the House to act as role models; and a general support on both sides of the House to denounce such negative behavior. The Single Island Wide Member Mrs. Gumbs-Marie made similar contributions to said discussion.
There are three sets of rules that govern the behavior of Ministers of Government:
1-The Code of Ministerial Conduct;
2-The Code of Conduct and Register of Interests for Members of the House of Assembly which was just passed in March of this year by the Anguilla House of Assembly; and
3-general principles of good governance and standards of behavior.
Both Codes refer to seven (7) principles of public life which applies to all elected representatives -Self1essness, Integrity, Objectivity, Openness, Honesty, Accountability and Leadership. All of these are important, but in light of the issue at hand, I wish to highlight two of these principles: (i) that of Accountability which states that, “holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this”, and
(ii) Leadership which states that “holders of public office are to exhibit these principles in their own behavior. They should actively promote and robustly support these 7 principles and be willing to challenge poor behavior wherever and whenever it occurs”.
Unfortunately, the behavior ofthe Hon. Quincia Gumbs-Malie is in breach of these core principles. These principles of good conduct and behavior do not just apply when one is attend ing Executive Councilor performing in the House of Assembly, or even when traveling on government business to represent Anguilla. These are principles that our people expect from each one of us as leaders.
While it is an expectation for all persons to govern themselves, persons in a position ofpublic trust and leadership have an even greater responsibility to carry out these principles. This is the case in relation to Mrs. Quincia Gumbs-Marie, especially as a young leader with a Ministerial portfolio, and as one with whom civil servants must work in order to implement Government policy decisions.
In the public domain, a Minister must ensure that his or her behavior does not undermine the public’s trust, rend er citizens unsafe or threatened by him or her. What lessons are we teaching to our children? What is the message we are sending as to how children and young persons are to conduct themselves when we cannot govern and control our own negative and destructive behavior? How can we stand in the House of Assembly and ad vocate for a committee against violence and hours later threaten to kill and bury a person? And are we saying to the world that our elected leaders in Anguilla have no decorum and no sense of appropriateness of behavior? The lack of civility, lack of judgment, lack of control are testament to the lack of readiness to lead.
Fellow Anguillians, we have seen the official statement of Hon. Mrs. Gumbs-Marie dated 24th May 2023 which not only fell short of a proper apology, but was in fact an insult to the people of Anguilla. There is no time when actions such as what Mrs. Gumbs-Marie displayed could ever be deemed appropriate, acceptable or indeed excusable. None whatsoever. Her display of public misconduct has added to the unsettling and fearful tone of violence in this, our beloved island. Even as we boast about progress made in the form of roads and anti-corruption laws, and the revenues made from GST collections, and even as we boast about intervention strategies to curb school violence, we as a people are sharing in the frustrations and embarrassment that this gross misconduct has brought on this country.
What is even more glaring is the fact that our Leader of Government Business, our Premier, the Honourable Ellis Lorenzo Webster, has not seen it fit, up until now, to even add ress the country about this most alarming incident which involved all but one of his Ministers of Government. It is, after all, the Governor of Anguilla, acting on the advice of the Premier, who would have appointed Mrs. Gumbs-Marie first as Parliamentary Secretary on 30th June 2020 and then on 41h July 2022. Is it that our Premier is not concerned about this incident and the behavior of his Government Ministers? Is it that he is unwilling or indeed incapable of properly addressing this issue? Is he afraid to offend ?
It is a known fact that Ministers throughout the world have been dismissed from their portfolios for lesser circumstances. The failure of our Premier to even come to the people tells us that our people are again being taken for granted by this Government. Who knows, “Eight days’ talk in Anguilla” might be what they are thinking, with the hope that the people of Anguilla will forget the seriousness of this issue and blindly move on as if nothing has happened.
It is not lost on us that this is indeed a matter in which several criminal offences may have been corrunitted. While it would not be appropriate to discuss the specific details of the incident, we would simply encourage the investigating members of the Royal Anguilla Police Force (“the RAPF”) to address this matter professionally and without fear or favor. It must be said that the public is looking on to see how this matter is hand led and to see whether or not the full extent of the law is brought to bear only on the average citizen when he or she is wrong.
Fellow Anguillians, at the core of this address, is an appeal to all of us to honour our civic duty and responsibility to avoid, desist from, and discourage violence in any form or fashion. I trust that my message will not fall on deaf ears, but will be used for reflection to bring about improved standards of behavior in this island.
Thank you for listening.
God Bless You and God Bless Anguilla
SIGNED BY THE LOYAL MEMBERS OF OPPOSITION IN THE ANGUILLA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY THIS 24TH DAY OF MAY 2023:
