By: L. Mckenzie
| One of Jamaica’s renowned scholars Prof. Trevor Munroe was the keynote speaker for CIN’s 12th annual lecture series at the Schomburg Centre for Research and Black Culture this past Thursday (11/17/16). The topic “Corruption: The Jamaica Imperatives,” which focused on addressing an important issue for Jamaicans both home and abroad.
Speaking to the vast majority of Jamaicans, Munroe outlined the crookedness that’s been cited by former UN Counsel General Kofi Annan as “not the evil phenomena of Jamaica’s sin but, how it affects all countries and especially the poorer and underdeveloped ones.” As the conversation continued, he emphasized how high the concern is for the corruption of the people of Jamaica and how it is necessary to vote out the government in order to curb it. Munroe explained the decline of the island’s justice system and its effect on its economic growth. While not condemning either political party as failing to control corruption, he focused on the capability, capacity, the determination and the achievements of Jamaicans as a people. He pointed out the many firsts in the country, such as the acquired paid maternity leave for women in this hemisphere, the abolishment of slavery 30 years before the US and achieving voting rights 20 years before civil rights acts of 1965. Stehpen Hill CEO of Caribbean International Network, (CIN) was excited with the turnout and the topic. He hailed Prof Munroe as one of Jamaica’ss brilliant mind’s and hoped he was a part of the government in fighting corruption but acknowledges his independence in doing so. |
