Author name: Professor Canute Thompson

Jamaica’s development as an independent nation, now in its 61st year, may be characterized as a series of stops and starts. There have been promising possibilities some of which realized their promise partially and others either stymied or shuttered, but the nation continues to hope.  In my assessment, a rough characterization of the country’s development […]

The decision of Kamina Johnson-Smith, Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, to contest for the non-vacant post of Commonwealth Secretary General (CSG) in 2022, remains a mystery despite so much that has been disclosed. Context and brief history It is to be recalled that in early 2022, at a CARICOM Heads of Government

The world is witnessing what many thought would not have happened in the United States of America, namely the arrest and arraignment of a former president.  Probably the only reason this did not happen to a sitting president is based on the Department of Justice guideline that a sitting president should not be subject to

The English-speaking Caribbean is a low-wage market of which Jamaica is the worst based on its GDP per capita and the size of that low-wage labour force.  While the Government of Jamaica has substantially increased the salaries of members of the political directorate, principals of schools and colleges and senior civil servants, the salaries of

Members of an organisation are entitled to their own perspectives and the right to disagree with a decision and direction of an organisation must be respected.  But when the leadership of an organisation takes a position, it is presumed to be reflective of, and binding on, all leaders in the organisation.  If this principle of

In the aftermath of the hiking of salaries of members of the political directorate by the Government, (by up to 300% – over three years), the Minister of Finance Nigel Clarke and Prime Minister Andrew Holness in seeking to justify the increases, promised that there would be “enhanced accountability measures”.  Among the measures promised (and

Editor’s Note: Part I of this series was published on May 22. The piece was titled The Constitutional Review Process: Is the minister giving false hope? You may read it here http://leadershipreimagination.com/uncategorized/the-constitutional-review-process-is-the-minister-giving-false-hope/ I am not a historian but the political history of the United States of America, from the period of the war of independence

When the leader of a country steps into a fractured national conversation, the society has a right to expect clarity and resolution, not further imbroglio, deeper chaos and confusion. But on Monday May 22, 2023, when Prime Minister Holness called a press conference to address the public consternation and anger engulfing the country in relation

The constitutional review process is said to be in its second phase, but it appears as though the Minister is guessing as she goes along. I say that not to be unkind but rather I am reflecting on the fact that we are now being told, after declarations to the contrary, that the issue of

The secret is out, the end has been reached and made known for all to see. What we are witnessing is the massive salary increases which the Government of Jamaica has given to the members of the executive and members of parliament.  The increases show a massive jump, effective April 1, 2022, and then increments