Tragedy and triumph are recurring themes in the history of Haiti, the world’s first black republic. It was a horrific tragedy that Africans were enslaved via the transatlantic slave trade and forcibly relocated to “Ayiti” to be the forced free labour for what would become the richest colony in the Caribbean.

It was one of the greatest triumphs in the history of the world when enslaved Africans rose up to decimate the armed forces of Napoleon Bonaparte to establish an independent nation — the world’s first black republic; the first time in the history of humankind that an enslaved people rebelled against the slave masters to create an independent nation.

In so doing, the Haitian freedom fighters shattered the myth of “white supremacy” at a time when Eurocentric theories of racial superiority and inferiority were gaining currency. The Haitian Revolution was the greatest revolution of all time.

The tragedy is that Haiti has been punished ever since, stigmatised, marginalised, embargoed, invaded, and subjected to chronic interference in its affairs by European powers and the United States. But, despite persistent class contradictions and related tensions, the Haitian people, particularly the Haitian masses, have been remarkably resilient.

Through all the trials and tribulations, the spirit of the revolution is embedded deep into the soul, consciousness, and culture of the Haitian people who yearn for and are willing to fight for democracy and development that are worthy of the dreams of the freedom fighters — the sons and daughters — who founded the first black republic.

Ultimately, it is this spirit which will triumph as Haiti struggles to overcome the often-turbulent headwinds of external and internal contradictions. People of African descent and people of goodwill globally owe an enormous debt to Haiti. Therefore, our mission in the time of trouble is to wrap our supportive arms around the Haitian people, with all the complexities and contradictions, confident that eventually the spirt of the revolution as manifest in the aspirations of the people will triumph. This background is crucial to the consideration of the contemporary crises in Haiti.

The tragic, brutal, mysterious assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, after months of turmoil and massive, paralysing protests, stunned the nation. Many observers fear that the vacuum created by his demise will plunge the nation deeper into turmoil. The current crisis occasioned by the assassination of the head of State is exacerbated by the recent death of the chief justice of Haiti’s Supreme Court, whom the constitution designates to become the interim president under circumstances like the present.

Moreover, President Moïse was ruling by decree because elections for the Haitian Parliament had not been held. So, in effect, every branch of Government has been decapitated, creating a rudderless State. In the void there was a scramble for power between various leaders, parties, and factions eager to seize the reins of governance.

Unfortunately, corruption in the political class runs deep in Haitian society. So, the fierce jockeying for power among far too many political leaders is to gain access to the public trough as a source of self-aggrandisement. The long-suffering Haitian people — the masses of the people — rightly view this scramble for power with anger, frustration, and a sense of betrayal.

The defining questions are: Where is the critical mass of leaders, organisations, and institutions that will put the interest of the Haitian people and the nation first? And, what is the way forward out of yet another crisis of governance?

Anxious to avoid another flood of Haitian refugees knocking at the door for asylum, the US, Canada, and nations of the Caribbean also have a vital stake in the answer to the question.

Plagued by coup after coup and intervention after intervention for decades after the overthrow of the US-backed Duvalier dictatorship, a nascent Haitian democracy has repeatedly faced the challenge of cobbling a way forward under trying circumstances. In my view, Haiti’s young democracy has also suffered from a near-fatal weakness – a western style winner-take-all governmental system and political culture, where leaders, parties, factions, and constituencies engage in fierce competition, bordering on mortal combat, to gain access to the spoils of power.

This is not true of every leader, party, or faction, but it is a dominant factor in Haiti’s political culture. This immediately creates the problem of envy, antagonism, and resistance by the losers who are locked out of access to the spoils of power! The answer to this cultural predicament would seem obvious, share power, share access to the benefits of governance.