Letter of the Day | Re-establish office of the political ombudsman

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The Gleaner’s New Year’s headline, ‘Ombudsman Wanted’, will hopefully spark renewed interest and produce the required results that the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) envisions, namely, “the return of a political ombudsman to oversee political campaigns in the run-up to elections”. Any well-thinking citizen of this country, not wedded to the present divisive system of rabid political party affiliations, would want to see an independent entity that ‘calls a spade a spade’, and to remind us all that there is still some modicum of correct behaviour as we exercise our franchise. Any attempt to abort the re-establishment of the Office of the Political Ombudsman, or to emasculate the powers of said office, might even further alienate those 57 per cent apathetic citizens who are fed up with the present political rivalry that undermines the good of Jamaica.

Reverend Newton Dixon, the general secretary of the JCC, further pinpoints the unhealthy apathy among voters as he refers to one of the “hot potato” issues at Gordon House, namely the assumption of plenipotentiary powers by the Honourable Speaker of the House when she departed from the tradition for “tabling reports from the Integrity Commission and the Auditor General as soon as possible upon delivery”. That, too, furthers “apathy, belligerence, and cynicism which many of our people show towards our political system in general”. No-one can say that the churches comprising the JCC have not been prophetic in the speaking truth, for the good of our beloved country.

However, notwithstanding that appropriate prophetic stance taken by the JCC, I should like to remind the JCC that, unfortunately, often realism trumps expectation, as the Ecumenical Education Committee (ECC) can attest. Their August 2023 draft of the Agreement between GOJ and Churches and Trusts, sent to the minister of education and the prime minister, is yet to be acknowledged. Nevertheless, during this New Year, as people of faith, we all hope and pray that good sense and right reason will ultimately prevail!

DONALD REECE

Archbishop Emeritus of

Kingston

Chairman, ECC