What comes out of our mouths defiles, and sometimes defines us

By Shermaine Joseph-Barnwell

In the midst of the ceaseless tide of political talk sweeping across our media and social feeds, I had hoped to remain an observer, but I can no longer suppress the responsibility I feel to write.

What has pushed me to this point is the troubling narrative now echoing across political platforms, particularly in constituencies where the ULP is campaigning in areas held by the opposition NDP. The repeated claim that these communities have suffered “neglect” for 25 years because of the elected opposition representatives is not only misleading; it is a startling confession of the ruling party’s own failure to uphold its constitutional duties.

While I may have personal reservations about how some opposition parliamentarians have executed their roles, it must be stated plainly: public assistance and constituency development fall under the executive arm of government, not the opposition. Opposition MPs do not control budgets, ministries, social programmes, or state resources. Civil servants do not serve political parties; they serve the public.

So when politicians on the campaign trail boast openly and without shame that constituencies were denied assistance because they “did not vote ULP”, they are not issuing a criticism of the NDP. They are admitting to 25 years of targeted neglect.

And that is corruption.

A government is entrusted with five years at a time to govern on behalf of all Vincentians, not only its political supporters. When any administration chooses to strategically starve certain communities of attention, projects, or social support because of how those communities voted, it does more than punish its political opponents; it punishes the country.

This kind of selective neglect deepens poverty, widens inequality, and sabotages national development. High poverty rates do not remain contained to one constituency. They spill over into every sector: education, health, crime, taxation, and the overall economy. Rising poverty strains national resources, weakens the middle class, and leaves the entire country more vulnerable.

We have already seen the cost. Independent reports have pointed to persistently high youth unemployment and rising poverty levels in several areas of SVG over the past two decades. When a government dismisses entire constituencies as undeserving of development because they supported the opposition, it undermines the very principles of democracy and good governance. Worse yet, it abandons its own supporters living within those communities, treating them as collateral damage; political sacrificial lambs.

Over time, this strategy has predictably backfired. The steady decline in ULP support across multiple election cycles reflects the weariness of citizens who rightly feel marginalised and undervalued. People do not forget neglect. They live with it every day.

The irony of the campaign strategy becomes even more striking when we consider how their slogans are crafted to soften, disguise, and even romanticise a long-standing pattern of exclusion:

   “Labour Loves You, Labour Is Wuking Fo We”. 

After all, how can a government claim “love” and “good work ethic” while proudly confessing that it withheld public assistance from entire communities?

These phrases present an image of care and national unity, yet they are being deployed in constituencies where the government itself has openly admitted to withholding development and support simply because the people “did not vote for them”. This is not love, this is propaganda to control the narrative. It is an attempt to recast deliberate neglect as the fault of the very citizens who were deprived, as though communities are punished not for their needs but for failing to pledge allegiance to “De Comrade”.

This messaging tries to persuade people that their hardships are a direct consequence of their supposed lack of loyalty, when in truth the betrayal lies with those who used public office to work for themselves, not for the nation.

A government that exacts political vengeance on its citizens for exercising their constitutional right to vote freely shows a dangerous disregard for public integrity. It is an affront to the hard-working people of this nation who are trying to build stable lives under systems that should protect them, not hinder them.

Much like Sanballat and Tobiah who sought to frustrate the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls, we too are witnessing leadership more concerned with obstruction than nation-building. What SVG needs now is leadership that refuses to weaponise public resources and instead focuses on uplifting every community without malice, without favouritism, and without conditions.

Silence helps no one. These issues demand public scrutiny, honest discussion, and accountability. Our democracy cannot thrive where people are punished for their vote. Public office is a sacred trust and when it is used as an instrument of exclusion, it becomes treason. 

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