Author name: Professor Canute Thompson

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

I had taken the decision not to engage in extensive public discussion on the matter of the hijacking of the process of the appointment of a new principal for the Mona Campus.  I intended to have raised it in my inaugural professorial address on May 11, but decided against it.  I am constrained to do

Serious political parties are not mere think-tanks, pressure groups, or fan clubs.  In a democratic society, they are organizations with a vision of what the country in which they operate may become and thus are seeking to gain state power to be able to advance the attainment of their vision.  In short, conscientious political parties

May 5, 2023 There is an exceedingly worrying reality in the Jamaican government which strikes at the heart of whether the Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, is the subject of (what the Russians call) kompromat. Kompromat is “compromising information collected and retained for use in blackmailing, discrediting, or manipulating someone, typically for political purposes”. (Oxford Dictionary).

Introduction The decision and actions taken by the Jamaican government to restructure the public sector compensation system comprehensively, were said to be underpinned by a philosophy and an ideology that would result in a revised pay policy. This compensation policy should be simple, consistent, predictable, sustainable, and deliberately designed to result in the transformation of

The Government of Jamaica has once again lowered the bar on public accountability and in the process has continued its dangerous march towards social anarchy in undermining trust in public institutions.  This latest, distressing blow to accountability and good governance took place in parliament on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, during the review of a report