What happened this Christmas holiday in Dominica was not generosity, charity, or goodwill. It was political conditioning. Across our country, our people saw the same pattern play out again this year, as many had before, Christmas hams were distributed selectively. It was politics.
If you supported Roosevelt Skerrit and his government openly, you were rewarded. If you questioned him, criticized him, or refused to wear his party colours, you were excluded. That is not accidental. That is intentional.
Food is one of the most basic human rights and needs, and when Roosevelt Skerrit and his government decided to weaponize it, and who eats and who does not, even symbolically, it sends a clear message: loyalty is rewarded, independence is punished. That is not leadership. That is a control dictatorship.
And let me be very clear about this, politics is not supposed to weaponize food against its citizens. Our government is not supposed to be a political party. Public resources are not personal gifts. If one Dominican receives assistance funded by the state or distributed through political power, then every Dominican must be eligible. No exceptions. No loyalty tests. No silent blacklists. Anything else is discrimination.
What made this situation even more disturbing was the public gloating. Some individuals who received hams proudly posted photos online, mocking others who got nothing. If you were one of them, you should be deeply ashamed. You were not celebrating Christmas; you were celebrating exclusion. You were not expressing gratitude; you were helping to humiliate your neighbours. You became a useful political tool, used by Roosevelt Skerrit and his government in a system that survives elections by dividing people against each other.
This is how social fracture is engineered. Not through open violence, but through quiet favouritism. Through rewards and punishments disguised as kindness. Through teaching people that their survival depends not on free thoughts, but on obedience.
Roosevelt Skerrit and his government constantly speak the language of “unity.” Yet unity cannot coexist with deliberate segregation. You cannot preach togetherness while practicing selective generosity. You cannot claim to care about “All Dominicans” while actively excluding those who refuse to bow politically. That is not unity. That is hypocrisy. And it is not new to Dominica!
History is full of perfect examples of leaders who maintained power by keeping populations divided. Colonial systems right here in Dominica perfected this method. They decided who worked in the master’s house or stables and who laboured in the fields. Who received privileges and who received punishment? The goal was never fairness; it was control. As long as people fought each other for scraps, they never united against the system itself.
The disturbing reality is that Roosevelt Skerrit understands this dynamic very, very well. He holds a degree in psychology, which is the scientific study of human behaviour, and he holds a degree in English, which is designed to help him develop persuasion, narrative control and strategic communication.
These are not meaningless credentials. They are tools that, when used ethically, can serve a nation. When used as a weapon, they are unethical and are used to manipulate an entire population.
This is why Roosevelt Skerrit is not a unifier, but the ultimate Opportunist Political Predator.
- An Opportunist Political Predator – does not want unity. Unity threatens their control.
- An Opportunist Political Predator – wants people suspicious of each other, dependent on him, fearful of exclusion and grateful for crumbs.
- An Opportunist Political Predator – creates an environment where supporters believe they are “chosen,” while critics are quietly punished, just enough to send a message, never enough to be openly punished.
People are encouraged to believe that Roosevelt Skerrit is their friend, their protector, and their provider. What this creates is a form of political dependence – where loyalty is mistaken for care and control is mistaken for support. Dominica’s Opportunist Political Predator conditions kindness on obedience; he is not a friend. He is not a protector. He is a handler.
When support is granted only to those who comply, and withheld from those who question, that is not leadership – it is manipulation. True leadership empowers people to stand independently, not fear losing favour for thinking freely.
And here is the truth many refuse to confront: Roosevelt Skerrit needs division to survive politically. Because an informed, united population would question:
- Why does food distribution depend on allegiance?
- Why does public assistance feel like a political favour?
- Why is it met with exclusion instead of dialogue?
So division is carefully and consistently maintained by our Opportunist Political Predator even during Christmas. Dominica deserves better than conditional compassion. You deserve leadership, not an Opportunist Political Predator like Roosevelt Skerrit, who does not sort citizens food into “deserving” and “undeserving” based on politics.
You deserve the Dominica Reform Party, where no one has to praise our Opportunist Political Predator to be treated with dignity. Because once food becomes a political weapon, democracy is already starving. And once people accept that some deserve to eat while others do not, the country has already been broken, and the Opportunist Political Predator is in charge.
And what makes this even more disgusting is that some people who did not even need the Christmas ham still took it. They did not decline it. They did not offer it to someone in real need. They took it anyway, because the system has trained people to grab whatever they can, whenever they can, without questioning the injustice behind it. That is what decades of Roosevelt Skerrit’s political conditioning and handling have done to our society and nation.
And while food is being used as a political weapon here in Dominica, three men who constantly claim to represent “change” have chosen silence:
- Thomson Fontaine – United Workers Party
- Joshua Francis – Joshua Francis
- Bernard Hurtault – Dominica Freedom Party
Not One Statement. Not One Post. Not One Sentence About It!
For decades, this practice of selective handouts, rewarding political loyalty and punishing inFor decades, this practice of selective handouts, rewarding political loyalty and punishing independence has been normalized in our nation. Everyone knows it. Everyone sees it. And yet, when it happens openly, brazenly and shamelessly at Christmas, these three “men” suddenly lose their voices. Why?
- Because speaking up would require courage.
- Because speaking up would mean challenging the very political culture they benefit from, being part of the Top 1%.
- Because silence is safer than principle.
That is why I am the only party leader talking about this because I am the only party leader who sees how wrong it is, and who actually cares.
If Thomson Fontaine, Joshua Francis, and Bernard Hurtault truly believed that food should never be used to divide people, they would have typed a short Facebook post. It would have taken five minutes. They could have said, “This is wrong. Food should never be political.” But they did not! Instead, they decided there were more pressing issues than a government openly segregating its own people based on loyalty.
Let this sink in: They were okay with a government that openly and fearlessly decides who eats and who does not at Christmas time. It is apparently that it was not urgent enough for them to even respond.
They are fake leaders who cry about unity. They give speeches about togetherness. But when faced with one of the clearest, most visible examples of political tribalism, they cannot even stand together to condemn it.
People are seriously struggling in Dominica. People are hungry. People are choosing between food and bills. Instead of uniting and speaking out against Roosevelt Skerrit and his government, which weaponizes food for political loyalty and psychological control, they sit quietly on the sidelines, looking away, acting silent like clams.
Now, let us talk more about Thomson Fontaine, Joshua Francis, and Bernard Hurtault personally, because context matters. These are university graduates. These are men with steady paychecks. These are men who do not struggle to eat, who do not depend on handouts, who do not fear missing a meal or paying a bill. They are paid directly or indirectly by donations from ordinary Dominicans to represent opposition, advocacy and moral leadership.
- They had their Christmas ham.
- They had their gifts under the tree.
- They participated in their religious observances.
- They had comfort, security and silence.
Were you as fortunate?
Because I know one thing for sure, members of the Dominica Reform Party were not. My family did not receive special favours. We did not receive selective generosity. And instead of staying quiet about it, I chose to speak out. That is the difference between fake leaders and real leaders! Silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality. It is complicity. And history will not remember who stayed silent; it will remember who spoke at all.
If the God-fearing – Thomson Fontaine, Joshua Francis, and Bernard Hurtault cannot even find the courage to condemn the weaponization of food against their own people, then they have no business talking about unity, reform, or national healing. Because unity does not come from speeches. It comes from standing up when it is uncomfortable. And on this issue, they chose silence and comfort over their own conscience and their own religious beliefs during the holiday season.
Dominica deserves better than fake, cowardly and weak leaders who look the other way. You need the Dominica Reform Party because, once again, I am here addressing the issues that other political “leaders” are too afraid to touch, issues
