Crawford rejects Warmington’s argument on Africans’ role in slave trade

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A suggestion from Government Member of Parliament (MP) Everald Warmington that Jamaica should seek answers from the Africans who captured and sold their fellow citizens to their white enslavers instead of pursuing reparations from Britain, was swiftly corrected and shut down by Opposition MP Damion Crawford.

This unfolded during Tuesday’s sitting of the House of Representatives shortly after Culture Minister Olivia Grange informed that Britain’s King Charles has referred Jamaica’s petition for reparations for chattel slavery that was filed on September 7 to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

“We are awaiting directions from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as to the next steps to be taken in the case. We will keep the Cabinet and the Parliament updated on the developments,” she said. Grange also said the attorney general will argue Jamaica’s case before the Privy Council with the matter now being a legal one.