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Neville Cenac
The FLOGG BLOG
Bigger. Harder. Better Than News.
Friday, 14 June 2013
RICK, CENAC & JUDAS ISCHARIOT
In the annals of St Lucian political legend, there is no fable more treacherous than “The Tale of Neville Cenac.” If George Charles was John the Baptist and Compton and Odlum competed for the role of Christ,
Neville Ischariot: 25 years of carrying double crossesNeville Cenac would definitely win the role of Judas. If you believe everything you read, poor Neville was also Loki and Benedict Arnold. Worst of all, he was literally Neville Cenac – the patron saint of political back-stabbing. At least, according to the self-appointment pope of political virtues.
From being the lifelong adversary of Compton and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Cenac made a leap of whatever the opposite of faith is, to become Compton’s foreign minister. Sounds like the path of personal prosperity. But Cenac reaped tears on both sides of the political fence.
He was practically flung from Olympus by the Labour Party after single-handedly battling the despair of being in the weakest opposition of all time, up til that point. (The poor guy only had the comedic stylings of Cecil Lay for his backa. John Odlum was also in opposition, but for the PLP.)
Cenac deserved to be Political Leader of Labour in 1987, if only because of that. And there can be little doubt that he had the makings of a great leader. Or at least a good one. Inarguably better than any of the other political leaders in both parties, with the notable exceptions of Kenny Anthony and John Compton.
But in the mid-80s, that was quite irrelevant.
Labour didn’t need a great and deserving leader who had kept the party’s honor in Parliament in those dark days in the political wilderness.
Labour needed change.
And the name of change was Julian Hunte.
Cenac practically annointed Hunte as his successor, a move that calmed tensions between Labour's warring tribes. Then, the party blew its nose with Neville and put him away. To be fair, he was not cast aside like an old tissue, as they did with George Charles, Kenneth Foster and Allen Louisy before him. He was at least good enough to be treated like a handkerchief. To be re-used.
The true story of what happened next has yet to be told in full. Patience, children. Soon come.
But in the not-so-true story, Cenac was painted as the biggest Judas bastard sellout sonofabitch since Judas Ischariot laid his macoumere lips on Our Lord and Saviour. Ironically, the person who was holding the paintbrush was none other than Compton’s former press secretary, Rick ‘Hypacrisy’ Wayne, a man who, at that point, had switched from anti-Compy to P.R.O.-Compy and back to anti-Compy again. Wayne assiduously propagated and purveyed the fable of Cenac’s treachery, both profiting from it and paying for it dearly. (Cenac sued him and won $50,000. And those are 1980s dollars we talking about, not the pathetic shekels that pass for money nowadays.)
Herodotus Wayne: When in doubt, print the legend
Rick paid for being too specific in the ways he called Cenac a sellout, but the moral victory was not yet won. Not even close. Cenac, if not Judas, was still Cain. Justice was done, but karma was quite incomplete. The one government minister who never went anywhere without his wife and who never spent a government dollar on her, the one man who took meticulous care never to abuse his privileges was written off by three generations of Lucians as immoral and corrupt.
Fast forward to 2013. No one would have seen the irony coming. The tables have turned. Rick turned them himself – the anti-hypocrite was exposed as the biggest hypocrite. The anti-hero made himself into a villain, for the sole purpose of showing Kenny Anthony who was the real boss.
Rick Wayne is now wandering the political and social wilderness with the disheveled devils who ransacked Compton’s kingdom. He spent the last decade in a raging vendetta against Kenny Anthony in particular. He persisted, even when it became clear that the last Flambeau government had gone way off the rails, strategically, politically and ethically. Over the last seven years in particular, truth, facts and journalism were damned as Wayne flailed away at the political legend he helped to create. And because some words cannot be taken back, Wayne now has no road home and no choice but to stick to his empty guns and the most politically inept friends anyone ever had.
Which all leads the student of political history, fable and legend to ask: Who is the real floor-crosser? Who is the unprincipled, self-serving master of treachery? Who’s the Judas, now?
Bigger. Harder. Better Than News.
Friday, 14 June 2013
RICK, CENAC & JUDAS ISCHARIOT
In the annals of St Lucian political legend, there is no fable more treacherous than “The Tale of Neville Cenac.” If George Charles was John the Baptist and Compton and Odlum competed for the role of Christ,
Neville Ischariot: 25 years of carrying double crossesNeville Cenac would definitely win the role of Judas. If you believe everything you read, poor Neville was also Loki and Benedict Arnold. Worst of all, he was literally Neville Cenac – the patron saint of political back-stabbing. At least, according to the self-appointment pope of political virtues.
From being the lifelong adversary of Compton and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Cenac made a leap of whatever the opposite of faith is, to become Compton’s foreign minister. Sounds like the path of personal prosperity. But Cenac reaped tears on both sides of the political fence.
He was practically flung from Olympus by the Labour Party after single-handedly battling the despair of being in the weakest opposition of all time, up til that point. (The poor guy only had the comedic stylings of Cecil Lay for his backa. John Odlum was also in opposition, but for the PLP.)
Cenac deserved to be Political Leader of Labour in 1987, if only because of that. And there can be little doubt that he had the makings of a great leader. Or at least a good one. Inarguably better than any of the other political leaders in both parties, with the notable exceptions of Kenny Anthony and John Compton.
But in the mid-80s, that was quite irrelevant.
Labour didn’t need a great and deserving leader who had kept the party’s honor in Parliament in those dark days in the political wilderness.
Labour needed change.
And the name of change was Julian Hunte.
Cenac practically annointed Hunte as his successor, a move that calmed tensions between Labour's warring tribes. Then, the party blew its nose with Neville and put him away. To be fair, he was not cast aside like an old tissue, as they did with George Charles, Kenneth Foster and Allen Louisy before him. He was at least good enough to be treated like a handkerchief. To be re-used.
The true story of what happened next has yet to be told in full. Patience, children. Soon come.
But in the not-so-true story, Cenac was painted as the biggest Judas bastard sellout sonofabitch since Judas Ischariot laid his macoumere lips on Our Lord and Saviour. Ironically, the person who was holding the paintbrush was none other than Compton’s former press secretary, Rick ‘Hypacrisy’ Wayne, a man who, at that point, had switched from anti-Compy to P.R.O.-Compy and back to anti-Compy again. Wayne assiduously propagated and purveyed the fable of Cenac’s treachery, both profiting from it and paying for it dearly. (Cenac sued him and won $50,000. And those are 1980s dollars we talking about, not the pathetic shekels that pass for money nowadays.)
Herodotus Wayne: When in doubt, print the legend
Rick paid for being too specific in the ways he called Cenac a sellout, but the moral victory was not yet won. Not even close. Cenac, if not Judas, was still Cain. Justice was done, but karma was quite incomplete. The one government minister who never went anywhere without his wife and who never spent a government dollar on her, the one man who took meticulous care never to abuse his privileges was written off by three generations of Lucians as immoral and corrupt.
Fast forward to 2013. No one would have seen the irony coming. The tables have turned. Rick turned them himself – the anti-hypocrite was exposed as the biggest hypocrite. The anti-hero made himself into a villain, for the sole purpose of showing Kenny Anthony who was the real boss.
Rick Wayne is now wandering the political and social wilderness with the disheveled devils who ransacked Compton’s kingdom. He spent the last decade in a raging vendetta against Kenny Anthony in particular. He persisted, even when it became clear that the last Flambeau government had gone way off the rails, strategically, politically and ethically. Over the last seven years in particular, truth, facts and journalism were damned as Wayne flailed away at the political legend he helped to create. And because some words cannot be taken back, Wayne now has no road home and no choice but to stick to his empty guns and the most politically inept friends anyone ever had.
Which all leads the student of political history, fable and legend to ask: Who is the real floor-crosser? Who is the unprincipled, self-serving master of treachery? Who’s the Judas, now?
Mr. Emmanuel Neville Cenac
I, Comrade Peter Lansiquot, repost with pride, the
following. Read Lucians:
The Untenable Fraudster
"Being bestowed the title of Governor General is one of
the highest honours one can attain in our country along with being the Chief
Justice and Prime Minister. Whilst ceremonial, it is the most quintessential.
It is not functional as is Prime Minister and Chief Justice but it is sacred.
Each of these title holders head one of the three
constitutional arms of our Government, which provides a democratic society that
we so enjoy.
The Prime Minister is the head of the Executive, which is
the Ministers, who all have collective responsibility in setting out policy and
security as the executive arm of Government.
Then you have the Chief Justice, who is the head of the
Judiciary charged with the responsibility of being the guardian of our
Constitution and the laws of the land.
The Governor General is the Head of Parliament and as such
has to have the confidence and trust of all Parliamentarians. That is why there
should be consultation with Her Majesty’s loyal Leader of the Opposition.
I have followed the arguments being made as to why Mr.
Emmanuel Neville Cenac, self-styled "Chandèl Mol" should or should
not be bestowed the honour of being the Governor General of Saint Lucia, which
comes with all the attendant titles and honours, such as a knighthood from the
Queen to be called "His Excellency Sir Emmanuel Neville Cenac" .
I have heard the following arguments – that he had crossed
the floor; that he is too old; that the Office of Governor General should not
revert to being a political football (that ended with Dame Pearlette Louisy);
that he has numerous court judgements outstanding against him; that the Prime
Minister is simply closing the gap for any constitutional coup d’état; and that
he is a divisive figure which is contrary to what the Governor General should
be.
I prefer to hold the simple view, yes simple but profound
view, that unacceptable behaviour should not be rewarded.
We often wonder why our people of today are indifferent and
do not feel or see the need to follow or abide or respect law and order, custom
and conventions and be respectable, period. We just need to look at our actions
which often times simply amount to - what I do is right but when you do it, it
is wrong.
We are consistently rewarding wrongs and we love to equate
wrongs or immoral behaviour to illegality. So if it is not illegal, then it is
not wrong or immoral.
What Neville Cenac did was not illegal, it is not disallowed
under our constitution nor prohibited under our laws but it was unconscionable.
You may ask, unconscionable to whom? I say to the Electorate of Laborie and
indeed the Saint Lucia Labour Party. Why? Because Neville Cenac was entrusted
by the people of Laborie with their vote to be their representative as a member
of the Saint Lucia Party and he betrayed that trust. And it gets worse.
According to his own writing in the Star Newspaper in 2013,
it is clear that he agreed to cross the floor before the second elections of
1987. He committed a fraud on the people when he stood before them and said
vote for me, vote for the Saint Lucia Labour Party with the full knowledge that
he had agreed and had every intention to betray them by taking their votes mere
days after the election to another party for his own self gains. This was not
about the people, this was not about country, this was about a man who can be
bought for the highest price which afforded him a house at Cap Estate which as
Minister of Foreign Affairs, he rented out his newly bought mansion to the
Taiwanese Embassy, with no shame or moral compunction. Imagine that, a foreign
Government’s Embassy is located in a house owned by the local Minister of
Foreign Affairs!
I see some people are saying it is his right to change his
party. Yes that is his right but it is not his right to be deceitful. If he was
so sure of himself, the right thing to have done was to resign from the Labour
Party and then fight the elections under the United Workers Party, given he
knew he had already agreed to go over to the United Workers Party.
What about the rumours that Stephenson King, Leonard Spider
Montoute and others may have contemplated voting with Labour MPs to unseat
Prime Minister Allen Chastenet?
Well voting with your fellow parliamentarians and indeed the
opposition parliamentarians does not mean you have changed your Party but that
you have merely exercised your right as to how you vote. After all, when the
opposition says "I" along with the Government MPs on a bill, have
they changed their Party allegiance? No, they have simply exercised their vote
in their considered best interest of the electorate without switching party
allegiance. They have committed no premeditated fraud on the electorate, they
have merely placed country first.
Emmanuel Neville Cenac, the "Chandèl Mol", is
simply a man who perpetuated fraud on the people of Laborie and the Saint Lucia
Labour Party and having being rewarded Foreign Affairs Ministry and also an
instant ability to afford a mansion in Cap Estate is now being further rewarded
with a role that is supposed to be unifying and respected, that of Governor
General of Saint Lucia.
Wonder why fraud and corruption are widespread in Saint
Lucia? Wonder why young people have no faith in public institutions and little
regard for customs and conventions? It is because of a Government which chooses
our highest title holder to be a fraudster, an untenable fraudster."
Cabinet Memo to relieve all 600+ workers at the Victoria Hospital
Cabinet Memo to relieve all 600+ workers at the Victoria
Hospital has been sent to the Executive Director of VH, The PS of Health Felix
St. Hill, The DPS Ms. Verena Calderon, The PS of Public Service Don Louisy and
the President of the Nurses Association Mrs. Alicia Baptiste.
The deadline for everyone to be terminated is September
15th, 2018 and they may reapply when the positions are advertised.
Only Last week the PM said no one at VH will loose their
jobs.. We are calling on the CSA, NWU, Police Welfare Association, Seaman and
Waterfront, SLTU, etc to stand in solidarity with the nurses including everyone
who has a sick relative or acquaintance at VH.
Who will take care of the sick at VH??
OKEU and Cayman City Hospital
Saint Lucia Wakeup....we are in Deep Shit with that OKEU and
Cayman City Hospital affair.....Cayman City who are now here negotiating with
the Government....their demands are strong....they will only be Employing 100
people 2 start and that includes their people....they want Victoria Hospital
shut down....they want OKEU empty before they start....No Clinic...No
Equipment....No Staff....People by the End of September WE will be in
Trouble....WAKE UP ST. LUCIA....WHOLE CHOU NOUS PAH BON.
St Jude Hospital
Whilst the debating competition between politicians, talk
show hosts etc. continues, the doctors, nurses, patients and staff have to work
in a stadium described by the former chairman of the Board as a dungeon.
No effort is being made by government to sit down with the
stakeholders to rationalise the way forward. The incredulity continues to come
out of the Minister for all Affairs, that the government is in the process of
spending $12m to repair the stadium; no wonder Dr Mondesir resigned.
He is not prepared to sit down with the medical and dental
association who commissioned and received a detailed technical report
recommending the way out of the stadium.
But it would appear that any recommendation made other than
by yellow card bearers is looked down with scorn and derision; and in the
process denigrating and vilifying the authors whose professional competency and
integrity are beyond question.
I will state unequivocally that the late Sir John Compton
who has been hailed as the father of this nation would have never, I repeat,
never stopped the St Jude Project looking for perceived corrupt politicians and
officials. And I defy the Hon Stephenson King to dispute this.
Sir John did not do as the current set, administer
government in the media and on the premise of rumour. What role if any is the
current public service with trained administrators playing in the governance of
this country?
I wonder if the minister who is always on radio and TV with
documents to prove his point, can produce a minute or other correspondence from
his Permanent Secretary and/or chief technical officer which informed his
decision to stop the project.
Two years (almost) the staff at St Jude are working in
conditions similar to that of a dungeon whilst a Minister is playing FBI agent
looking for crooks.
The sad thing about this saga is the yellow vs red continues
while civil society watches in deafening silence.
Saint Lucians, wake up and smell the coffee before it is too
late.
Be more patriotic than politically partisan.
Victor E. Girard
Patriot
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