NEW YORK, United States — A bitter feud has erupted within the ranks of the rival Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) which has been pressuring the Jamaican Government to engage more with its nationals overseas on several issues of concern, like crime, health, education, and corruption.

At least one key member of the group — former Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent and attorney Wilfred Rattigan — pulled out of the organisation at the height of the bust-up over how its core objective of “holding Government accountable” is to be handled.

“I left the group over two months ago because of significant differences of opinion over the direction of the council, its goals, and the way forward,” Rattigan told the Jamaica Observer in an interview.

Rattigan is the man who rattled the Government by spearheading the registration of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council in the United States, using the same domain name by which the Administration had engaged with the country’s Diaspora.

The group has been staging lively protests this year in the main cities populated by Jamaicans, like New York, Miami, and Toronto, with plans to include London, England, to dramatise its campaign to get the Government’s attention.

In June, as the Government staged its 10th Biennial Conference of the GJDC in Montego Bay, St James, the rival group staged a counterpart version of the conference online at the same time, which drew participation from some leaders of the Opposition People’s National Party.

Dr Rupert Francis who co-chaired the rival group, bemoaned the break up of what he described as “the most successful and peaceful challenge to any Government of Jamaica in our pursuit of accountability”.

It was Francis who fired the first salvo in a letter to Jamaica’s ambassador to Washington, Audrey Marks, setting out their concerns, which they later claimed was ignored. Ambassador Marks is, however, on record as saying she was prepared to discuss the concerns raised. It is unclear why that never happened.

Francis, also head of an organisation called the Jamaica Diaspora Task Force on Crime Intervention and Prevention, blamed the in-fighting on “person or persons unknown”, saying it would dampen the efforts to hold the Government responsible for the shortcomings outlined.

Acknowledging that all is not well within the rival Diaspora council, another key member, Herb Nelson, a security expert, said he had also been sidelined as a result of the dispute, which he, too, attributed to “differences of views on the pursuit of and implementation of our objectives”.

Things took a turn for the worse last weekend, as comments Rattigan made on his online platform —
Reason with Rattigan — ignited an avalanche of outrage and criticisms, further widening the chasm which has opened up within the group.

Another important element of the dispute relates to questions over the expenditure of money raised by the One Jamaica Legal Defense Foundation — a non-profit entity registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Rattigan set up the foundation last year to raise funds to assist with the operations of the rival GJDC in meeting expenses such as logistical set-up and transportation for its recent series of protests as well as legal costs.

In his response, Rattigan said that “every cent raised by the foundation can be accounted for, and in keeping with Federal regulations an audited copy of the financial records of the foundation will be filed and made available for all to see within the time specified for this to be done”.

He also pledged to “comply with any request for a refund by any contributor to the foundation, as a moral obligation, since legally it is not required”.

Dr Francis, in the meantime, told the Observer he had sought the services of his attorneys with a view to filing a lawsuit against Rattigan for alleged libel and defamation.

Over the past three weeks, at least one person, who up to a month ago was close to the group but did not wish to be named for this story, used a popular online forum to criticise key members of the group, accusing some of having political motives, accusations which have been stoutly rebuffed.

Prior to the falling out, the group had been gaining traction among many prominent members of the Diaspora.

FRANCIS… blamed the infighting on “person or persons unknown”