Rubbish from Jomo’s outfit

15.AUG.08

Editor: I listened recently to the proceedings of the launch of Jomo Thomas’ misnamed People’s Movement for Change. It has nothing to do with the people; it’s about one or two self-appointed spokespersons for the people. And it is not about change; the speeches, except for Marlon Stevenson’s, which was a selective recounting of some history, were pure rubbish and stale offerings of no consequence to the people.{{more}}

Jomo strikes me as someone who purports to understand everything but the people, who do not and will not understand him. He and Oscar Allen spoke as persons who have their feet firmly planted in the air. Oscar, of course, is an old provocateur from the 1960s who has an aversion to serious political work and who is still in outer space. Jomo, for his part, incredibly wants to be Prime Minister but does not want to become a politician in the process. Competitive politics is partisan, according to these gurus, and ought to be avoided. In the old colonial regime of pure crown colony government, there were no politicians and competitive politics. That would have suited Jomo and Oscar very well. A sort of government without the messy business of people competing to push their policies and programmes. Backward, reactionary rubbish!

The laughable part of the Jomo-Oscar exercise in political vanity and fairy-tale living/posturing is their big lie which they sought to convey about their being original and sound in their thinking. Unfortunately none of their sound ideas were original; in fact these sound ideas have been or are being implemented and have been better stated elsewhere. And to the extent there were original ideas, none of them was sound. For Heaven’s sake, let us be serious! These are snake-oil salesmen offering mirages; castles in the sky, not even in the sand! These are intellectually hollow softies; no substance whatsoever!

Rodney Goodluck