MOORE Town Maroons chief, Colonel Wallace Sterling says while head of the Accompong Maroons Richard Currie has a right to declare support for the political party of his choice, he should make it clear that the position is his and not that of the wider Maroon community.

“Everybody has a right to support who they want to support; that is their personal choice. If an individual wants to go to a political rally and speak on their individual behalf, that is their prerogative, but to involve every Maroon with a broad brush is not something that I think should be done because, as far as I know, in every Maroon community there are people who support PNP [People’s National Party] and people who support JLP [Jamaica Labour Party],” Colonel Sterling told the Jamaica Observer on Monday.

He was responding to a query from the Observer on Currie’s comments at the public session of the PNP’s 86th annual conference inside the National Arena in St Andrew on Sunday, given the Maroons’ often stated position that they are autonomous.

Currie, who first appeared on the conference stage with former incarcerated dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel, later returned and addressed the cheering Comrades, telling them that the Maroons will no longer accept violation of their rights and disrespect.

“We are here today. We journeyed far and we sojourned to deliver a message. They will say I am political but what do you expect me to do? The point is, we have been soliciting the Government for three-and-a-half years and to date they have not responded to us. They have not attended one function, but Markie G [Mark Golding] has. Your future leader has, because he has vim, vigour and vitality,” said Currie who, since being elected colonel of the Accompong Maroons in February 2021, has crossed swords with the Andrew Holness Administration and State agencies.

“The Maroons came here today to deliver a powerful message. Those who think they can undermine the rights of those who were here 287 years before, we have a sad, sad message to deliver in a few months’ time because the people are tired. Poverty, crime, there is so much that the unity of the Maroons and the people of this beautiful island together can share,” he told the Comrades.

“The years that were sacrificed for the freedom we celebrate today have given us the open door to a republic, but it cannot be trampled upon in the way it is being proposed to be trampled upon, which is why we are here to say, ‘Time has come’. I stand before you as chief of the Accompong Maroons, not as a political entity, but as a proud representative of Jamaica’s first nation,” said Currie.

“Our presence here at your 86th conference is both a statement and a gesture. A statement of unity and a gesture towards future mutual respect and peace with Accompong Maroons and all Maroons islandwide, from the windward to the leeward. Respect to Mark Golding and his Administration. When you assume State power you also have a home in Accompong, brother. Let us embrace unity, respect, and mutual understanding as we move for a brighter future for this beautiful land we love,” Currie said to loud applause.

However, Sterling — the longest-serving Maroon chief in Jamaica, having been elected in September 1995 — said the Maroons prefer to avoid partisan political involvement as they have to engage with the Government on matters that are important to them.

“Whomever forms the Government of the day, we have to interface with them. We wouldn’t want to be sitting at a table with anyone who can say, ‘You have already declared your support for this other one’; that’s not how we wish to operate,” he told the
Observer.

At the same time, Sterling acknowledged that previous Maroon officials have been involved in politics.

“The colonel that I succeed in Moore Town, CLG Harris, was a senator for quite some time; [and] the secretary for the Maroon Council of the day, when they had more parochial divisions in the constituency, he was a councillor. So there was always an involvement at that level,” Sterling said.

He reiterated that Currie had a right to speak “in his individual capacity” but argued that no Maroon leader should speak for the entire community without consensus.

Against that background, Sterling said the Windward Maroons started discussion on Currie’s comments on Monday.

“We don’t say things that will boomerang to affect us in any way, shape or form. If it means we have to call him and get clarity, we will do that [but] we don’t want to see ourselves as Maroons in conflict,” Sterling said.