Mr Dwayne Vaz, to whom the late Mr Roger Clarke bequeathed his Westmoreland Central constituency and a treasure trove of political goodwill, has found himself, deservedly, in hot water.

Caught up in the throes of political campaigning at a People’s National Party (PNP) rally in Granville, St James, on December 10, he uttered words from convict Vybz Kartel’s violent recording, Wah Dem Feel Like, to the effect: “A baby strength dem have, gal strength alone dem have… load up di gu…”

Mr Vaz’s utterances from the platform can provide valuable lessons to future politicians. His is a case that could truly be described as an example of “youthful exuberance”. It is not to be excused, but neither should it be used merely as a partisan political football. Otherwise, the real lessons will be lost.

The most important lesson is context. Words that might have been overlooked in another time and place can take on huge proportions in an adverse way at another time.

In respect of time, we are in election fever. The indication from Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller that she will not call it this year might have tempered the fever a bit, but the campaign goes on. Everything said from either campaign platform will be seen as fair game.

With regard to place, Granville, in particular, and St James, in general, have been plagued with bloody violence that has claimed many lives in recent years. This violence is often linked to the dastardly lotto scamming scheme which has robbed hundreds of Americans of their hard-earned money.

Furthermore, earlier on the very day that Mr Vaz was speaking, there had been a fire at the office of the deputy mayor of Montego Bay in Granville. Even while it had not yet been ascertained that the fire was deliberately set by arsonists, we know that in a political context the PNP was likely to be suspicious of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). And some people don’t need to wait for evidence to retaliate, especially when their anger is stoked by a legislator who should know better than to speculate on a public platform.

It was into that scenario that Mr Vaz ran the lyrics of Kartel, who was convicted of murder and is now serving time in prison.

Mr Vaz is a young, bright, educated man with enormous prospects as a politician, the kind of person the country needs. His route to becoming member of parliament for Westmoreland Central could be used as a template for future politicians. He learned the ‘business’ from a veteran, Roger Clarke, who employed him to work among the people for several years, earning their love and trust, before giving him his blessing.

We are not yet ready to write off Mr Vaz. He has made a terrible error of judgement which Mr Horace Chang was right to point out. But he has moved quickly to apologise, meet with the political ombudsman, and extend his apology to the leader of the Opposition.

Future politicians must learn from this incident. Forgiveness is not a bad thing if there is genuine remorse and no repetition of the deed. After all, the good book says: “Let him who is without sin… cast the first stone.”