By Lesroy W. Williams Observer Reporter
(Basseterre, St. Kitts)”A representative from the newly formed United Liamiguan Party, John “Ras Kalonji” Jeffers, is adamant that the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis needs to introduce a bill in Parliament that would start the process for compensation for 500 years of the African Slave Trade. In an interview with the St. Kitts-Nevis Observer, Ras Kalonji said that the indignities suffered by Africans and the descendants of Africans for 500 years of slavery cries out for a just response. “Reparations are monies owed to us for 500 years of unpaid slave labour,” Ras Kalonji said. A paper was presented to the First Pan-African Congress on Reparations held in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria from April 27-29, 1993, under the heading “The Legal Basis of the Claims for Reparations” by Lord Anthony Gifford, British Queens Counsel and Jamaican Attorney- at-Law. It is posited in the introduction of this paper that the enslavement of Africans was a crime against humanity; that international law recognizes that those who commit crimes against humanity must make reparation; that there is no legal barrier to prevent those who still suffer the consequences of crimes against humanity from claiming reparations, even though the crimes were committed against their ancestors; that the claim would be brought on behalf of all Africans, in Africa and in the Diaspora, who suffer the consequences of the crime, through the agency of an appropriate representative body; that the claim would be brought against the governments of those countries which promoted and were enriched by the African slave trade and the institution of slavery; that the amount of the claim would be assessed by the experts in each aspect of life and in each region, affected by the institution of slavery; and that the claim, if not settled by agreement, would ultimately be determined by a special international tribunal recognized by all parties. “The basis of our unity is that we have been exploited and oppressed as black people,” Ras Kalonji said. “It is not religion.” Ras Kalonji said that the British and French governments owe the people of the Caribbean African Diaspora an estimated 700 billion pounds. “We know that our country is bankrupt and this money can go towards writing off our historic national debt,” he said. The United Liamiguan Party is only contesting the Central Basseterre seat, Ras Kalonji said. “If I am elected to the House, I can move a motion to bring reparation into our domestic law and then take it to the International Human Rights Court in The Hague,” he said. But Ras Kalonji is not only concerned about reparations. He is also concerned about the unification of the society. The society is too divided along party lines and the societal breakdown that is seen in the rising crime, criminal gangs, electricity problem and other problems are a result of this breakdown. “The conditions in the society are getting worse. We see all this pussy-footing, this blame game. “We don’t want to blame anybody. We want all our people to come together to fight a common struggle so we could better our condition. “Granny say don’t throw away your lamp, because there is a possibility that electricity might go,” he said.
