LANISHA ROLLE MUST CARRY HER YOU KNOW WHAT
While the Prime Minister Hubert Minnis was busy cutting ribbons and kissing babies and commissioning bridges, his Government seemed more in shambles than ever. The star of the past week in that regard was the hapless and hopeless gift that keeps on giving in the person of Lanisha Rolle, the Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Affairs.
She was booted out of her job as Social Services Minister given her propensity for dissing the poor and trying to force the staff to stand up every time she entered the room. However, instead of solving the problem, this special colleague of the Prime Minister was sent to Youth, Sports and Culture, where she wreaked and is wreaking her special havoc. Not only does she have the whole staff in revolt over her arrogant and stupid demands but the community of the youth field, the Junkanooers, the sports and the cultural community were all in the press in some form last week saying that she had to go.
She was oblivious as they all are. She and Marvin Dames, another Minister of the government who is judicially condemned and ought to resign, sat at the state funeral for the late Calsey Johnson as if they had not a care in the world. This is an impervious crew and the only thing that will move them it seems is the general election, unless there is an open revolt in the streets.
The Madam of the Ministry decided that she would jump over the Junkanoo Corporation and enter a group without their permission. The Corporation was already vexed about the fact that the government was late with the seed money which usually arrives in September but only came last week. The Junkanoo Corporation led a public protest in the streets on Thursday 7th November 2019.
The sports community as you know was so fed up they have washed their hands of her: the cutting of the world relays, the late subventions to the athletes, the cutting of the delegation to the World Championship in Doha, while she went on a shopping jaunt in Doha instead of a trip which was supposedly to watch the games.
She has forced out Darren Turnquest, a known FNM, from his role as Director of Youth and has not replaced him. The PLP’s Senator Jobeth Colby Davis issued a statement calling for her to go and went further with Shadow Minister for Culture Picewell Forbes to call for the Prime Minister to dismiss her in the face of the calls from Junkanoo and then the egregious error of forcing the children in the Youth in Parliament to wear a specially struck medal at the cost of 542 dollars and change with her picture on it.
The country had had enough. The Prime Minister was forced to make her pay for it. He also intervened in Junkanoo and said nothing will change in this year’s parade. The Madam of the Minsitry was seeking to help out Marvin Dames, her Cabinet colleague, who has formed a Junkanoo group in his area and was trying to get them into the parade by going around the corporation.
There is a young man called Israel Adderley who collects Bahamian memorabilia. We think that the Lanisha Rolle medal should be in his collection. It will be a memory and example of the foolish acts of the Minnis Administration and an example of one more nail in their coffin.