Eric Mathew Gairy was not a champion of Grenada’s independence.

By Lennie Fleary —

After I wrote about Eric Matthew Gairy of Grenada, someone told me Gairy had brought independence to Grenada, so I should applaud him.

Gairy deserves no applause. He never waged any struggle against the British for independence, as Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, and Nelson Mandela did for the independence of their countries.

Following the collapse of the West Indies Federation, the British colonies were no longer profitable to the British, so they wanted to unload those colonies. The British pleaded with those islands to come and receive their independence without any trouble.

Alexander Bustamante, received independence on behalf of Jamaica, Eric Williams, on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago, Forbes Burnham on behalf of Guyana, Grantley Adams on behalf of Barbados, and then came Gairy. No struggle, no problem. The British government was happy to unload those colonies who were willing to take the exit willingly.

The independence of Grenada resulted in Eric Matthew Gairy becoming a ruthless dictator. His personal Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) and his trade union for life are currently in intensive care with no hope of recovery following Gairy’s death.

Before Gairy entered politics, he established trade union offices all over Grenada as his personal ATMs to feed off the Grenadian workers. Gairy’s union had never been audited, because he was the owner, the boss and the decision maker. Now that Eric Matthew Gairy is dead, his union dies with him, and his party is the only party that received independence for its country, and it is no longer in existence. All the other political parties are either in government or opposition.

When Gairy returned to Grenada after he was overthrown, he should have been arrested for crimes against his people. There is sufficient evidence against him in the “Duffus Commission of Inquiry into the Breakdown of Law & Order, and Police Brutality in Grenada” to have him locked up for life.

Featured image: Statue of Eric Matthew Gairy at the Sir Eric Matthew Gairy Botanical Gardens in St. George’s, the capital city of Grenada.