Prime Minister Gaston Browne Criticizes Religious Leaders for Discouraging Meeting with Former Gang Members
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has publicly criticized religious leaders who attempted to dissuade him from meeting with former gang members, expressing concerns about the broader implications of their actions. In a recent address, Browne highlighted that several pastors had visited his office, urging him to reconsider his decision to engage with these individuals.
Browne acknowledged the concerns raised by the religious leaders, noting that their objections seemed to stem from a mixture of concern for his safety and a belief that engaging with former gang members might be seen as rewarding criminal behavior. However, he firmly stated that it is not the role of religious leaders to dictate government policy or prevent efforts aimed at rehabilitation.
“I understand their concerns, but what they did is not their job,” Browne remarked. “I don’t think there was any malice in their intentions—just concern. They were worried about my safety and possibly thought that by engaging with these individuals, I was somehow rewarding them.”
The Prime Minister went on to criticize the harsh stance some members of society have towards former gang members, noting that there are those who believe these individuals should be incarcerated or even killed. He expressed dismay at the opposition’s stance, which he characterized as advocating for a punitive rather than a rehabilitative approach.
“Some people believe that all of them should be put in jail, or worse, put on the ground,” Browne stated. “Even the opposition has been irresponsible in this regard, suggesting that instead of constructive engagement, we should be using police force to kill them. But if the police were to even inadvertently kill one or two of them, these same people would be the first to cry out about extrajudicial killings.”
Browne emphasized the importance of rehabilitation and constructive engagement as a means of addressing the challenges posed by crime and gang activity in Antigua and Barbuda. He reiterated his commitment to finding solutions that do not rely solely on punitive measures, urging for a more balanced approach that includes efforts to reintegrate former gang members into society.
The Prime Minister’s remarks have sparked debate within the community, with some supporting his stance on rehabilitation, while others remain skeptical about engaging with individuals who have been involved in criminal activities. The conversation continues as the government navigates the complexities of addressing crime and ensuring public safety in the nation.
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With due respect to our religious leaders but some need to have their own backyard cleaned before pointing fingers.
They should perhaps do like the PM and try to solve the problem as to why the churches are empty.
oh give me a fkn break!!!! religious leaders ain’t helping nobody sometimes these youth. oives need to be heard they jus need help sometimes a lot a them going thru hell j7s because we DMT know it why not save them from going down the path where they start killing those they rob you all ever consider that part you all should step aside!!!! go one side an let the prime minister do what he wishes to do meet with these guys an hear them out an talk to them
why would u denied talking to them jus because they criminal
I have not done any indepth analysis on this but I am thinking to engage people about the issues they are having is not a bad thing.
They are citizens, they matter as individuals and as a group. At this time, I am not against the PM meeting with citizenship individually or as a group.
I was going to employ the same strategy with my family, for about 20 of them to meet with the PM for him to acknowledge my proposed endeavor (crime victim advocacy and research) to be deemed of national importance and substantial merit.
I would have then used that importance to push for my firearms license to be approved since my firearms permit (temporary) was expired. I wanted all tools required to ensure the success and safety of my endeavor, staff and myself.
It would be good to hear both sides of this story, because a number of pastors and religious groups are ones most rigorous in visiting prisoners via their prison ministry. I know for example Audie Browne ( who is both a pator and police) along with Pastor K. Doyle are very vigilant with tge End it How programme, working with troubled youths and their parents.
“I understand their concerns, but what they did is not their job,”
That’s right gaston. Cuss dem r**s.
You just tell them when to pray and when to shut dem f*****g mouths.
RELIGIOUS LEADERS HE SAID STOPPING HIM FROM MEETING WITH THE GANGS, AFRAID THEY SAID, HMMMMMM… AREN’T THEY NOT THE PROFESS GODLY MEN THAT THEY SAY GOD CALL HMMMM I WONDER….THESE RELIGIOUS LEADERS ARE THE ONE TO BE ENGAGING WITH THESE GANG MEMBERS AND LEAD THEM TO CHRIST, THIS ALONE SHOWS ME GOD NEVER CALLED THEM. PRAY FOR YOURSELVES AND YOUR FAMILY., STOP DEPENDING ON THESE SO CALL PASTORS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS GOD GIVE US PERMISSION TO WALK ON DEMONS AND SERPENT’S ….PUT YOUR TRUST IN GOD NOT MAN.
Gaston Browne thinks he’s smart by criticising that the Religious Leaders for discouraging the meeting up with gang members.
However Prime Minister, it’s not just the discouragement from the church about these meetings; but there is also a swathe of very concerned Antiguan citizens that want the Prime Minister to take an alternative and much stronger response to these nefarious gangs.
By mentioning “Religious Leaders” Gaston Browne FULLY understands what he’s doing; and all this statement will do is provoke an ugly backlash that will encourage commentators to attack the past – and present – historical evils of the church. Clever indeed!
Just replace Gaston’s words from “Religious Leaders” to concerned “Antiguan citizens”, and this whole topic of conversation and debate will flips on its head to the positive.
Gaston, we are having an issue with violence on a whole within our tiny nation, and for you to publically come and state or bash any groups for their suggestions to you, is totally unacceptable and wrong.
You could have privately stated such to said groups or individuals.
What you are doing is adding a “division of authority” within the same issues that you and the nation is having and between the stated gang individuals and other authoritarians. In other words, you are making a “channel of authority” where YOU are the only one that can and should communicate with the questionable individuals. NO RELIGIOUS INDIVIDUALS, NO OTHER MINISTERS OF GOVERNMENT, NO OTHER LEADERS, BUT YOURSELF. This is a fault and a fallacy!
Whatever and whomever may have stated their suggestions in privacy to you, should remain there.
What will happen if you should fall and hit your head? No one else would be able to communicate with these violent individuals because you are creating the environs of division.
Please wipe your mouth and face, there some brown and black speckles on there.
…and, this impasse between Gaston Browne, PM and his #gang and the varying religious #orders/gangs (upper level/boardroom war room gangsters) is exactly, one of the reason(s) why, these #street_level pawns (enlisting from the pauperised hoods) will not TRUST neither the government nor the religious establishment’s, it’s because, they are a part of the problem too!
The Bumbling Bureaucrats Mantrq!
“Out of Chaos Comes Order!”
Governments get to steal allocate, then siphon off more funds for crime fighting and wars; plus, tge church/religion get ungodly souls to pay for a one way tickets to ♾️infinity and beyond!
#Amazing!
@ CIP Investor, I wholeheartedly agree with everything that you’ve said. Gaston Browne knows how to mislead and fool Antiguans – he has it down to a fine art!
I don’t whether or not if Browne is into playing chess♟️♟️♟️, but my word, if he was, he’d be a Grandmaster at it …😁
Either that or he’s well versed in the book, ‘The Art of War’ by the author Sun Tzu 😉
What Gang?
You mean that rag-tag bunch of little boys that he pick up in Pointe and pay to come to a meeting?
Look at dem? Look good at dem?
That is not how real gangs look or act. Some of those boys look like their biggest crime is “cussing badwud and throwing stone”.
Gaston Browne has this little two by four piece of rock good and proper fool off.
It is sad to see so call intelligent people indulging him in his foolishness. The upholder is worse than de thief.
It’s good that the PM is taking some time to talk to the poor and downtrodden whose voices are not always heard in society. Lady Browne and her Ministry should also be included in these conversations because apart from jobs, poor people also need good working infrastructure to get out of poverty and thrive. Too often we think about what the rich, tourists etc. need and then build that, but we should have a vision as a society of what a day should look like for a poor person. How are the sidewalks that they have to walk on? Can they access fresh food in their community? Are important services available nearby? All of this helps poor people to get by on their small paychecks until they can improve themselves further in life. We must think of life from the perspective of poor citizens too, not only the rich.
At the end of the day, according to scripture, anyone who repents and turns away from their sins, no matter how grevious, can be given a second chance by God. The honourable thing for them to do would be to confess and accept their earthly punishment for what they did, but of course that does not always happen. Even if they are not punished by society they will still be punished by the Almighty. Although He forgives, people still have to deal with the bad repercussions of their decisions one way or another. If they really want to turn their lives around and pursue peace that’s great, we should give them the opportunity to do so. If evidence comes up against them later, they’ll still have to face the music anyway.
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