JLP chides Golding for Garvey exoneration comments, calls for apology

Attorney and Jamaica Labour Party spokesman, Donovan Williams, is chiding People's National Party President Mark Golding for comments stating that National Hero Marcus Garvey has been exonerated by the US government, arguing that it shows Golding does not understand the issues surrounding the matter.

Garvey was convicted of mail fraud in the United States in 1923.

In a media release, Williams noted that what was granted on Sunday by US President Joe Biden was a pardon and that, while welcome, a pardon is only part of the process of clearing Garvey's name and achieving full and unconditional exoneration of Jamaica's first national hero.

"It is evident that the PNP President does not understand the fight to clear Marcus Garvey's name. Golding's misleading statement indicates that he does not understand that a pardon is not an exoneration but references the act of forgiving for commission of an offence. Exoneration includes a full declaration of innocence, while acknowledging unjust prosecution," Williams stated.

In a written statement following the news of the pardon Golding said "Marcus Garvey’s exoneration corrects a grave historical miscarriage of justice". Williams also noted that Golding intimated that the development is "a triumphant acknowledgement of a legacy restored".

"This is not the first time that the PNP President has issued hasty, historically incorrect and misleading statements in what appears to be an inappropriate bid to take credit for a development which neither he or his Party had anything to do with. I am hopeful that the PNP President will reflect on the error of his ways and consider issuing an apology for misleading the country. It is sad that on a day when we should all be celebrating a positive development, the PNP President in his apparent rush for glory has again demonstrated his unsuitability to lead Jamaica," Williams berated Golding.

Williams also suggested Golding express contrition on behalf of his party for former PNP President, Norman Manley's "unjust prosecution of Marcus Garvey in 1930 and for utterances by Manley where the former PNP President also disrespected Mr Garvey by questioning Garvey's intelligence and describing him as a 'national disgrace'."

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