UIC’s Patterson to contest St Elizabeth NE seat
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Joseph Patterson, the founder and chairman of United Independents’ Congress (UIC) who intends to contest the St Elizabeth North Eastern seat in the next general election, today pledged that he will not be a handout politician, and will bring new ideas to the table.
His “new ideas” centre around developing the constituency, so people would be less dependent on Government.
A guest at the Jamaica Observer’s Monday Exchange, Patterson said instead of being a “handout politician”, he would be a “hand up politician”.
The chartered accountant and businessman lived in Canada for several years but returned to the island in 2011 with a mission to transform the country.
“I really could not live with myself if I do not do something to help my country,” he told editors and reporters.
He formed the UIC movement in January 2012 to provide an independent voice to unite the people around good governance and achieving economic independence instead of “fighting as two tribes”.
Patterson stressed that he decided to enter the race as an independent candidate because joining the problem, that is either the Jamaica Labour Party or the People’s National party, will not fix the problem. He said instead that he comes to offer clear solutions after having looked at the way the country has developed over the last 53 years.
Anika Richards