Alarms were raised yesterday when the Kriol Council of Belize realized that they had been excluded from the list of participating stakeholders in The People's Constitutional Committee, even though both the Maya and Garifuna councils had been included.
And tonight in a scathing release they say, quote: "the exclusion of the Nation Kriol Council…constitutes a threat against every citizen that identifies as a descendant of those enslaved Africans who built the foundations of a politically independent Belize."
Now the group that calls themselves quote: "the representatives of a people critical to the foundational existence of Belize" in their release addressed to Prime Minister Briceno says that the decision reflects a lack of executive consideration as well as a disregard for the NKC's concerns with respect to Amnesty.
It's a subject that has the council all fired up and reaching out to both local and international partners in protest. We heard more about the rationale behind the release from Kriol Council Member Dr. Abigail Mckay.
Reporter
"I want to ask you about a particular piece of language in that statement, the council says whether by accident or design. Is there as yet any opinion view on which of those it was?"
Dr. Abigail Mckay
"We don't know, because we can't get into the head, the thinking of the people the authors who orchestrated it. It's kind of flabbergasting to think that it could have been an error, because if somebody sitting at the table in helping to shape this was also a person of enslaved African ancestry, how could you not know, and the Kriol Council represents the group, but we don't know. In truth you cannot say one way or the other, we don't. So hence we say whether it's by accident or by design. That is something that we have to pay attention to. One of the things I do want to say is that this was not on the radar of the National Kriol Council's interim board, so to speak, and we really do appreciate the source - somebody actually reaching out` contacting us and say hey what's up with this, what's going on and so that really galvanized us to some kind of action the requirements for putting in information today 22nd July in anticipation of the committee meeting on Monday 25th July."
Reporter
"Is there any view that an alignment with Kriol culture is intrinsically viewed as UDP?"
Dr. Abigail Mckay
"Way would that be? This is not a political position. I think it is important for people to understand. This is constitutional, this is integral, it is a rights violation that has occurred, So I think it is critically clear and important that we pay attention. I don't know about UDP, but its those kinds of things that you have to say it has nothing to do with partisanship, it has everything to do with politics of life, that is governance, that is me being a citizen, that is the civics of it, so the Kriol Council i snot taking that position at all and hopefully that is not a part of what has gone into this process either."
Kriol recognizes and identifies that part of our makeup is based in the enslavement of our ancestors, so this is part of what is important to pay attention here is that that group of people, the direct descendants, those who actually built this country. Make no mistake, pay attention to the Flowers Bank 14, 12 of who were free Africans who were able to participate in the governments, in the public meetings to make that decision to stay and fight. That is the beginning of our country and that's an argument that I keep making to say that has help shape our connections, our alliances to other people from the Caribbean who are aligned with Britain as well."
As you heard the Council will await a response to their objections at Monday's first meeting of The People's Constitutional Committee.
