Questionable Conduct: The Jamaican Political Reality

The Terms Of Reference Of The West Kingston Commission of Enquiry mandates the enquiry into inter alia: “(n) whether there was any direct or indirect communication between the fugitive  Christopher “Dudus” Coke, and any Jamaican Government Official (or Officials) or  any agent thereof, during the period between when the Request for Extradition was  first communicated to the Jamaican Government or any of its agents or officials  and when the fugitive Christopher “Dudus” Coke was arrested;  and if so, by which  Officials and or agents thereof, the nature of any or all such communications, by  what means and for what purposes.” No evidence has been adduced before the COE from which the inference could be made that any official of the Government of Jamaica directly or indirectly contacted Christopher “Dudus” Coke regarding the imminent request for his extradition. ( See our Tivoli COE: Who tipped off Dudus? ) Both the then Minister of National...

            Apart from making a phone call to Prime Mister Bruce Golding informing him that COP Hardley Lewin and CDS Major General Stuart Saunders was in his company and had certain information which would be on interest to him, what else did Minister of National Security, Hon. Dwight Nelson, do in respect of the extradition of Christopher “Dudus” Coke? It is very difficult to avoid the answer: “Next to nothing”. • There is no evidence before the Tivoli COE from which one could even reasonably infer that Nelson made another phone call concerning the impending request. • Minister Nelson did not accompany the COP and the CDS to the Prime Minister and did not discuss with either of the heads of the security forces or the Prime Minister what took place at that meeting. • The Minister admitted that he absolutely did not have any responsibility in the extradition matters. • At no stage did the Minister of National Security get involved. • Nelson h...

The Tivoli Commission of Enquiry has been informed by both the then Minister of National Security, Dwight Nelson, and the then Commissioner of Police, Owen Ellington, that the security forces had no idea how, if and when the fugitive Christopher "Dudus" Coke escaped the dragnet imposed on Tivoli Gardens in May 2010. Nelson too admits the there are a number of theories ; but he does not believe that the security forces "know for a fact" how Dudus managed to evade capture. Theories:  Coke never left  Tivoli Gardens during the military- police incursion; Coke escaped via tunnels constructed as waste water drains -- exiting at a gully in Hannah Town; Coke escaped on land disguised as a female.   ET #1: This seems very unlikely given the intensity of the searches conducted by the security forces. Indeed if Coke had remained undiscovered during the military-police operation, then there would be no need to risk being discovered by venturing outside of his '...

The testimony of former Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Orette Bruce Golding and former Minister of National Security, Dwight Nelson have raised concerns about the veracity of statements concerning the Jamaica Defence Force (JCF) and Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF)  joint operations in Tivoli Gardens (TG) in May 2010. The former PM was concerned about the accuracy of the deaths reported to him by the security forces and particularly the reports by the JDF . He had received telephone calls from residents of TG complaining about extreme abuse being perpetrated by the security forces resulting in a number of fatalities. Golding sent a team including the Public Defender, Earl Witter, to ascertain the true position and even enquired of the US Embassy if there was any information on the carnage that had purportedly been taking place. In short, the Prime Minister and Minister of Defence had reason to query the information being relayed to him by the Heads of the security fo...