Vagabonds in Power: COVID, Jamaica and Politics

If COVID-19 was the stress test on healthcare, education, the private sector, government competency etc., then Jamaica has failed. If any Jamaican is honest with themselves they can't say this was unexpected. This country has been failing for a very long time, COVID-19 was merely the catalyst. What’s responsible for this failing? Too many things to name, but I’ll try: The Spanish, Christopher Columbus, The British, Bustamante, Sangster, Shearer, Seaga, Manley, IMF, World Bank, Patterson, Golding, Simpson-Miller and Holness. This is not an exhaustive list but it’s a start. At any given election cycle the leaders of this country saw the state of this country and begged the Jamaican people to give them a chance to fix it. Instead of solutions the Jamaican people got mismanagement, corruption and other abuses of power. In 1979, Fela Kuti performed and recorded the song V.I.P - Vagabonds in Power. In this song Fela begins by outlining the more commonly known meaning of VIP, very important person. He then says that to be a very important person one must have power, and this power must come from a source. Fela then asks the crowd, why is it that when heads of states get power they talk nonsense, cheat people, steal money (i.e. abuse power)? Fela answers his own question by lamenting that these VIPs don’t know hungry, homeless, jobless, suffering people; instead they drive the best cars, eat the best food, live in the best houses. This is why in the chorus Fela then refers to them as vagabonds in power. Much like Fela, I too think that the disconnection with the population is why politicians have failed. There was that incident in parliament where a politician attempting to outline the rising cost of goods using a basket and others laughed and jeered, all while some Jamaicans are starving. Jamaica has a rising population of capable young people waiting for a break and parliamentarians are making plans to be wheelchaired into parliament. Most recently, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic the Jamaican government cracked under pressure from stakeholders to reopen the entertainment sector and now our health system is failing. I don’t want to believe these people are evil, but there is little evidence to the contrary. As COVID-19 continues to ravage Jamaica, politicians are “appealing” to the “good nature” of Jamaicans, no policy, no governance, just appeal. COVID-19 is only going to get worse, and the government has shown that their priority is making money rather than saving lives. The blood of the Jamaican people is on the hands of this government. My hope is that Jamaicans, especially young Jamaicans, will remember these failings and act accordingly.