NEW YORK, United States — A cloud of controversy is hanging over the 2026 elections for Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) and the Global Jamaica Diaspora Youth Council (GJDYC) representatives scheduled to get underway on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.

Former head of the then Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board for the North-East United States Patrick Beckford is calling for a boycott of the elections, which will run through to February 20, with the results scheduled to be announced four days later.

Beckford, who is a founding member of the original Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board, has long argued for “an independent Diaspora-controlled body, one which is autonomous and free from any Government ministerial connection or control”.

Participation in past GJDC elections has been another area of concern, as voter turnout has been extremely low with only 3,000 people casting ballots in 2023, the last time the exercise took place.

“The Global Jamaica Diaspora Council was never meant to be a ministerial extension or a loyalty test. It was meant to be fearless and accountable to the Diaspora and not to politicians,” Beckford argued.

He has proposed that the GJDC, in its present form, “should be scrapped and return to the people it was meant to serve”.

The council comprises 30 representatives, some of whom are appointed by the Government. It is chaired by State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Alando Terrelonge.

At least one other prominent member of the Diaspora, Dr Rupert Francis, has thrown his support behind Beckford, arguing that “Jamaica should not run the GJDC”.

“Whoever participates in these elections do not understand what is at stake; in short, this is tantamount to a travesty,” he said.

Beckford has also criticised two of the criteria that people seeking to represent the GJDC must meet. Candidates cannot have any criminal convictions nor have ever declared bankruptcy.

While the requirements might be a wise move, Beckford has questioned who will bear the cost of the necessary background checks to ensure they are met.

Forty-four candidates in the United States and Canada are down to contest the elections, according to Jamaica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade website. In the US, representatives for two of the three regions — the South covering Florida, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Arkansas; and the West-Midwest — will have new representatives. In the southern region, outgoing representative Peter Gracey has decided not to seek re-election.

There are eight nominees from that region while two newcomers — Dr Binzie Roy Davidson, chief executive officer of UNI Health Care Inc in Los Angeles, and Latoya Porter, an instructional facilitator in special education — will face off in the West-Midwest region.

In the North-East region, current representative educator Michelle Tulloch-Neil will be seeking a second term.

Following the elections, representatives will begin formulating plans for this year’s 11th GJDC Biennial Conference, scheduled for Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James. The conference will take place with Government and private sector participation and usually deals with issues such as trade and investment.

Attendance at the last conference in 2023 was more than 1,000 and organisers are gearing up for an even larger participation this year.

The conference will take place June 14 to 18, 2026.

FRANCIS… this is tantamount to a travesty

GRACEY… not seeking re-election