marvinrzgibson
04-26-07, - 06:45 PM
It was quite interesting to hear the Hon. Obediah Wilchcombe accusing the Hon. Brent Symonette of being involved in crooked land dealings. It was not astonishing or any surprise, however, to hear that Mr. Wilchcombe was allegedly involved in a vote-buying scam being perpetrated in Grand Bahama as this is “small things” compared to the treachery that he has been associated with.
In 1997 the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) was a broken and desperate organization after taking a merciless beating during the general elections in March of that year. Sir Lynden had had enough and this political bruising assisted greatly in helping Mr. Christie’s agenda of encouraging Sir Lynden to relinquish leadership of the Progressive Liberal, submit his resignation as a Member of Parliament and to leave frontline politics in August 1997.
I was nineteen years old – a staunch and influential young PLP supporter who was committed to the PLP cause mainly because of parental admonition. I had made a number of speeches against Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and the Free National Movement (FNM) on the campaign trail throughout the South Andros Constituency. A speech in Fresh Creek, Andros, that was a little more offensive than the one Frederick McAlpine gave at Clifford Park, brought my political aspirations to a crashing halt. Lady Margaret Pindling would later tell me the decision to end any endeavors that I may have had within the PLP was made by her because of the aforementioned address.
Within days of Sir Lynden’s political exit, South Andros became a battlefield with all of the major players making their presence felt. When Mr. Ingraham came to South Andros I was advised by Joshua Rolle, a young FNM supporter, that he wanted to see me. The dialogue between myself and Mr. Ingraham, in front of the FNM Headquarters, in The Bluff, was very brief and to the point. “You cost me the election in South Andros the last time,” he said. “I want to know if you’re working with me this time.” I responded, “Yes sir.”
I contacted my parents from the FNM Headquarters and advised them of my decision. They were outraged as this went against all of the PLP principles and doctrines that they had instilled in me. My mother wept and begged me to reconsider my resolution. My stepfather considered me an outcast and tore up any FNM paraphernalia that he discovered in my possession.
Word of my support for the FNM spread through the South Andros Community like wildfire to dry grass. Many were not convinced until they saw me get on an FNM campaign stage on a Monday night, in The Bluff, South Andros, to deliver a speech at the same time when a PLP rally was being held. Note that both candidates, i.e. K. (Kimberley) Neville Adderley and Ronald Bosfield had asked me to speak at their rallies.
Communication was made to Joshua Rolle that Obie Wilchcombe wanted to see us. On the Wednesday of that week we visited him at Sir Lynden’s residence in Drigg’s Hill where he lectured us about South Andros being the backbone of the PLP and his confidence of this party winning the upcoming bye-election. I assured him that I did not share his sentiment on this and we made an agreement that the PLP would fund a trip for Joshua and I to travel to Mangrove Cay and Fresh Creek to review the support base of the Progressive Liberal Party in these areas before any consideration was given to declaring our allegiance to them.
On Friday of the same week we headed to Drigg’s Hill to see Mr. Wilchcombe, collect some money for incidentals and confirm the arrangements made to cater to us in Mangrove Cay. While there, Mr. Wilchcombe put four hundred dollars ($400) in my hand and he advised us to proceed to Drigg’s Hill where a guy known as ‘Big Lun’ would be waiting to ferry us over to Mangrove Cay.
Upon our arrival to Drigg’s Hill we met a heavy set guy at the dock on his boat. I approached him and advised him that we were looking for Big Lun and why. He told us that Big Lun was there but had already left. I asked the guy if he could take us over to Mangrove Cay but he told us that he couldn’t because he was headed elsewhere. We watched him start his boat and he did go southeast for a while but then after some distance he turned his vessel northwest and headed to Mangrove Cay. I would later find out this guy was actually ‘Big Lun’.
Joshua and I chartered a boat to Mangrove Cay where we were met by Mr. Eddie Bannister of Victoria Point. Mr. Bannister assured us that he knew the purpose of our visit and he encouraged us to go and sort out the car rental and accommodation concerns. He advised us that we would be staying at Helen’s Motel, owned by Fred Sturrup, in Pinders, compliments of the PLP. While I didn’t pay attention to it at the time, Mr. Sturrup placed us in a dark little house that was next to the motel and not in one of the rooms of the motel itself. Exhausted from the day’s events and, in preparation for the purpose of our journey, we slept early.
During the dead of night, at about 11:45pm, a knock on the house door woke me out of my sleep. It was Mr. Eddie Bannister who explained that he wanted us to give him a ride home. When I offered to take him so that I wouldn’t have to awaken Joshua he insisted that both of us accompany him. We obliged him and once at his restaurant he asked us to come inside and sit down because he needed to talk to us.
Mr. Bannister told us that he had been advised that we had come to Mangrove Cay to campaign for the FNM. I interrupted him to deny this ‘allegation’. Mr. Bannister continued that he had received seven (7) calls, i.e. three (3) from Nassau and four (4) from South Andros instructing him to ensure that we did not make it out of Mangrove Cay alive.
Joshua sat beside me shaking like a leaf. I laughed because I thought this was all a big joke being exacted at our expense. I think my contemptuous response infuriated Mr. Bannister and, thus, caused him to reveal a little more of this murderous plot. He explained that we were never supposed to have made it to Mangrove Cay in the first place as we were supposed to have been killed on the boat and thrown overboard. Further, he told us that, after this plan had fallen through, another had been hatched to set fire to the little house where we were staying. He said, “Didn’t you notice that you all were put in a building all by itself away from the motel?”
Mr. Bannister insisted that if we intended to live to see the next morning we needed to leave Mangrove Cay that night. In his desperation to ensure our safety he, without permission, borrowed a boat (an aluminum hull with an engine) belonging to a gentlemen he referred to as ‘Bully Bastian' and, in the dead of night, drove us across the dark waters to the Drigg’s Hill dock. Joshua’s mother Mrs. Edna Rolle, who Mr. Bannister allowed us to call from his restaurant, was at the dock waiting when we arrived around 1:00am.
A week later, while at an FNM Rally in Drigg’s Hill, I saw the guy who we met at the dock. He approached me and identified himself as ‘Big Lun’. He said, “I knew what was suppose to happen, Marvin, but I couldn’t be apart of that. I turned over FNM.” I was stunned and only then did I take Mr. Bannister's words seriously. Every time I saw him after that I would thank him and ‘Big Lun’ for saving my life.
Just last week, I went over to Mangrove Cay to attend an FNM rally. I passed by Mr. Bannister’s place and there he was sitting on the verandah in front of his restaurant. He smiled as he greeted me. “Marvin, you’re over here again?” he asked. To the other persons accompanying me he said, “This man was almost a sacrificial lamb for the election.” Interestingly enough, I never heard from Obie Wilchcombe again and, of course, the PLP did lose the bye-election.
In 1997 the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) was a broken and desperate organization after taking a merciless beating during the general elections in March of that year. Sir Lynden had had enough and this political bruising assisted greatly in helping Mr. Christie’s agenda of encouraging Sir Lynden to relinquish leadership of the Progressive Liberal, submit his resignation as a Member of Parliament and to leave frontline politics in August 1997.
I was nineteen years old – a staunch and influential young PLP supporter who was committed to the PLP cause mainly because of parental admonition. I had made a number of speeches against Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and the Free National Movement (FNM) on the campaign trail throughout the South Andros Constituency. A speech in Fresh Creek, Andros, that was a little more offensive than the one Frederick McAlpine gave at Clifford Park, brought my political aspirations to a crashing halt. Lady Margaret Pindling would later tell me the decision to end any endeavors that I may have had within the PLP was made by her because of the aforementioned address.
Within days of Sir Lynden’s political exit, South Andros became a battlefield with all of the major players making their presence felt. When Mr. Ingraham came to South Andros I was advised by Joshua Rolle, a young FNM supporter, that he wanted to see me. The dialogue between myself and Mr. Ingraham, in front of the FNM Headquarters, in The Bluff, was very brief and to the point. “You cost me the election in South Andros the last time,” he said. “I want to know if you’re working with me this time.” I responded, “Yes sir.”
I contacted my parents from the FNM Headquarters and advised them of my decision. They were outraged as this went against all of the PLP principles and doctrines that they had instilled in me. My mother wept and begged me to reconsider my resolution. My stepfather considered me an outcast and tore up any FNM paraphernalia that he discovered in my possession.
Word of my support for the FNM spread through the South Andros Community like wildfire to dry grass. Many were not convinced until they saw me get on an FNM campaign stage on a Monday night, in The Bluff, South Andros, to deliver a speech at the same time when a PLP rally was being held. Note that both candidates, i.e. K. (Kimberley) Neville Adderley and Ronald Bosfield had asked me to speak at their rallies.
Communication was made to Joshua Rolle that Obie Wilchcombe wanted to see us. On the Wednesday of that week we visited him at Sir Lynden’s residence in Drigg’s Hill where he lectured us about South Andros being the backbone of the PLP and his confidence of this party winning the upcoming bye-election. I assured him that I did not share his sentiment on this and we made an agreement that the PLP would fund a trip for Joshua and I to travel to Mangrove Cay and Fresh Creek to review the support base of the Progressive Liberal Party in these areas before any consideration was given to declaring our allegiance to them.
On Friday of the same week we headed to Drigg’s Hill to see Mr. Wilchcombe, collect some money for incidentals and confirm the arrangements made to cater to us in Mangrove Cay. While there, Mr. Wilchcombe put four hundred dollars ($400) in my hand and he advised us to proceed to Drigg’s Hill where a guy known as ‘Big Lun’ would be waiting to ferry us over to Mangrove Cay.
Upon our arrival to Drigg’s Hill we met a heavy set guy at the dock on his boat. I approached him and advised him that we were looking for Big Lun and why. He told us that Big Lun was there but had already left. I asked the guy if he could take us over to Mangrove Cay but he told us that he couldn’t because he was headed elsewhere. We watched him start his boat and he did go southeast for a while but then after some distance he turned his vessel northwest and headed to Mangrove Cay. I would later find out this guy was actually ‘Big Lun’.
Joshua and I chartered a boat to Mangrove Cay where we were met by Mr. Eddie Bannister of Victoria Point. Mr. Bannister assured us that he knew the purpose of our visit and he encouraged us to go and sort out the car rental and accommodation concerns. He advised us that we would be staying at Helen’s Motel, owned by Fred Sturrup, in Pinders, compliments of the PLP. While I didn’t pay attention to it at the time, Mr. Sturrup placed us in a dark little house that was next to the motel and not in one of the rooms of the motel itself. Exhausted from the day’s events and, in preparation for the purpose of our journey, we slept early.
During the dead of night, at about 11:45pm, a knock on the house door woke me out of my sleep. It was Mr. Eddie Bannister who explained that he wanted us to give him a ride home. When I offered to take him so that I wouldn’t have to awaken Joshua he insisted that both of us accompany him. We obliged him and once at his restaurant he asked us to come inside and sit down because he needed to talk to us.
Mr. Bannister told us that he had been advised that we had come to Mangrove Cay to campaign for the FNM. I interrupted him to deny this ‘allegation’. Mr. Bannister continued that he had received seven (7) calls, i.e. three (3) from Nassau and four (4) from South Andros instructing him to ensure that we did not make it out of Mangrove Cay alive.
Joshua sat beside me shaking like a leaf. I laughed because I thought this was all a big joke being exacted at our expense. I think my contemptuous response infuriated Mr. Bannister and, thus, caused him to reveal a little more of this murderous plot. He explained that we were never supposed to have made it to Mangrove Cay in the first place as we were supposed to have been killed on the boat and thrown overboard. Further, he told us that, after this plan had fallen through, another had been hatched to set fire to the little house where we were staying. He said, “Didn’t you notice that you all were put in a building all by itself away from the motel?”
Mr. Bannister insisted that if we intended to live to see the next morning we needed to leave Mangrove Cay that night. In his desperation to ensure our safety he, without permission, borrowed a boat (an aluminum hull with an engine) belonging to a gentlemen he referred to as ‘Bully Bastian' and, in the dead of night, drove us across the dark waters to the Drigg’s Hill dock. Joshua’s mother Mrs. Edna Rolle, who Mr. Bannister allowed us to call from his restaurant, was at the dock waiting when we arrived around 1:00am.
A week later, while at an FNM Rally in Drigg’s Hill, I saw the guy who we met at the dock. He approached me and identified himself as ‘Big Lun’. He said, “I knew what was suppose to happen, Marvin, but I couldn’t be apart of that. I turned over FNM.” I was stunned and only then did I take Mr. Bannister's words seriously. Every time I saw him after that I would thank him and ‘Big Lun’ for saving my life.
Just last week, I went over to Mangrove Cay to attend an FNM rally. I passed by Mr. Bannister’s place and there he was sitting on the verandah in front of his restaurant. He smiled as he greeted me. “Marvin, you’re over here again?” he asked. To the other persons accompanying me he said, “This man was almost a sacrificial lamb for the election.” Interestingly enough, I never heard from Obie Wilchcombe again and, of course, the PLP did lose the bye-election.