By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 2, 2020 – According to an article in the Nassau Guardian on December 31, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip Brave Davis said he was “appalled” that the Free National Movement (FNM) government, led by Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis, had recommended former United Bahamian Party (UBP) Cabinet Minister Godfrey Kelly for a Knighthood.
Mr. Kelly is a former Bahamas Minister of Education in the United Bahamian Party (UBP) government, who also distinguished himself as an Olympic sailor. He was recommended for the prestigious honour of being named Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George for services to business and sports, according to the Guardian’s article.
“What we have to look at is what are we saying to the Bahamian people?” Davis was quoted as saying in the Guardian’s article.
According to the Guardian, Davis questioned whether Kelly’s knighthood is “an effort to rewrite history or is it just awarding persons who would’ve perpetrated ideologies and policies and philosophies that treated the majority of our Bahamian people as second-class citizens?”
“Had it not been for the election of 1967, we might have still found ourselves in the state that we were then,” Davis was quoted as saying.
According to Davis, individuals who understand the UBP’s educational policies during Kelly’s tenure as minister “would be appalled that he is being awarded such a prestigious award.”
This stark and stinging observation by Mr. Davis seems to have more than modicum of credibility based on some startling information in a story in BAHAMIANOLOGY emailed to me by a friend.
Under the headline, CANADA ACCUSES UBP EDUCATION MINISTER GODFREY KELLY OF TRYING TO PROFIT FROM DONATION OF SCHOOL DESKS 1967, the article notes: “By 1967, Canadian authorities had had just about enough of the millionaire-rich, beggar-poor UBP (United Bahamian Party) Bahamas government. They had enough money to lure the rich to buy land, but couldn’t find enough money for school desks. Canada was livid!
“Reporters had been holding back on a story for about year or more, but after the defeat of the United Bahamian Party in January 1967, they threw caution to the wind and sent it to print.
“Bahamas Education Minister under the UBP Government, Godfrey Kelly, was accused of trying to profit from the donation of free school desks earmarked for poor Bahamian children.”
I don’t know how much of this is true, but BAHAMIANOLOGY long ago convinced me that the information it documents is unquestionably of historical significance.
However, in an article in The Tribune on January 2, 2020, the 91-year-old Mr. Kelly “defended his knighthood saying he expected the award earlier and views it as government making amends for neglecting to recommend it after his decades of contributions to the country.”
“Well you know when Sir Geoffrey (Johnstone) got his I should have gotten mine. I just got a CMG and he got a KCMG so they made amends,” Mr. Kelly told The Tribune. “I expected it earlier. I am quite happy. Even though I have already won I can’t jump around (because) I’m 91.”
According to The Tribune, speaking of his contributions over the years, Mr. Kelly said he has long “given a lot” to the Royal Bahamas Police Force and was an attorney for 66 years, adding that he retired not long before his knighthood was announced. Click on the following link for the full BAHAMIANOLOGY article. https://bahamianology.com/canada-accuses-ubp-education-minister-godfrey-kelly-of-trying-to-profit-from-donation-of-school-desks-1967/
