By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 5, 2022 — Prime Minister Philip E. Davis made an excellent choice in appointing George A. Smith as Special Advisor on “the preparation for the appropriate events” leading to and after the July 10, 2023 celebrations of The Bahamas’ 50th anniversary of independence
In a statement released today, the Prime Minister said, “Next year, 2023, will mark the 50th Year of the Independence of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The preparation for and the celebration of the ‘Golden Jubilee’ of the Nation’s Sovereignty must be worthy of this defining period in The Bahamas and the lives of its People.
“I am pleased to announce the appointment of the Hon George A. Smith as Special Advisor on the preparation for the appropriate events leading to and after 10th July 2023. Mr. Smith’s vast experience makes him ably suited to advise on such matters. The nationwide events surrounding the period must focus on the struggles and achievements of the Bahamian People, past and present, and celebrate them. This appointment is for a period of one year.”
The Prime Minister also announced that Mr. Smith “has also agreed to serve as the Non-resident Envoy to the Republic of Singapore,” adding: “His familiarity with Singapore, having visited the City State on numerous occasions, makes him an ideal person to represent The Bahamas in Singapore. This diplomatic appointment is for the normal period of such as an unpaid appointment.”
I was immensely pleased with this appointment because I have known George Smith from he was “in the trenches” during the struggle for majority rule in the 1960s as a young member of the National Committee for Positive Action (NCPA), the activist group within the PLP that essentially was the “power base” of then PLP leader Lynden Pindling.
When Arthur A. Foulkes and a group of other NCPA members established the Bahamian Times in the early 1960s after Foulkes lost his bid for a seat in the House of Assembly in the 1962 general election and resigned as News Editor of The Tribune, George subsequently joined the staff of Bahamian Times ostensibly as General Manager.
As Foulkes recalled in an article, he wrote back in 2005, “I met George Smith when he was a young insurance agent back in the early 1960s. Mr. Smith’s complexion would have made it easy for him to find acceptance on the white side of the Bahamian racial divide at the time. But he chose to throw in his lot with the struggle for majority rule. He frequently stopped at the office of Bahamian Times on Wulff Road – which was a little hothouse of political ferment – to help with the newspaper and join in the debates.”
George and I became extremely close friends after I left The Tribune in 1965 and joined the staff of Bahamian Times, having received my early training in journalism, under the tutelage of Foulkes and the late Sir Etienne Dupuch, the Tribune’s Publisher and Editor. I had joined the staff of The Tribune as a trainee reporter in May of 1960.
Following the historic January 10, 1967 general elections, in which both the then governing UBP and the opposition PLP won 18 seats, the PLP was able to convince the lone Labour Party winner Randol Fawkes and Independent Alvin R. Braynen to support the PLP and formed The Bahamas’ first black-led majority-rule government.
One year later, however, members of the PLP were faced with making a crucial decision of holding a bye-election to fill the Shirlea seat left vacant following the death of Uriah McPhee, but it was decided instead to “go back to the people” in a general election on April 10, 1968. It turned out to be the right decision, with the PLP winning by a landslide, capturing 29 seats, while the UBP won just 7. Randol Fawkes was re-elected as a Labour candidate, as was Alvin R. Braynen as an Independent.
George Smith was born in Exuma, and naturally when he decided to embark on a political career, he chose to run as a PLP candidate for the Rolleville constituency in The Exumas and was among the winning candidates in the 1968 general election.
I was very much involved in George’s campaign, and every Saturday after Bahamian Times had been published, we would head to Exuma. It was during this time that I fell in love with the islands that comprise The Exumas, which the tourist brochure describes as “an archipelago of 365 cays and islands, beginning just 35 miles southeast of Nassau.” That “love affair” continues even to this day. Although I have not visited The Exumas in more than two decades, I developed some lasting friendships during those campaign years.
My friendship with George Smith has remained “rock-solid” over the years as a result of the strong foundation on which it was established during our years as co-workers at Bahamian Times, even though we took “different sides,” so the speak, when there was a “political split” in the PLP in 1970. I was best man in George’s wedding at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral to the late Mavis McCartney Smith and I am godfather to their daughter Gina.
George and Sir Arthur Foulkes also maintained a close friendship after Sir Arthur became one of the Dissident Eight that broke away from the PLP in 1970 because of disagreements with the leadership of Sir Lynden Pindling, whom George still strongly supported.
When I returned from London in November of 1969 after one year’s on-the-job advanced training in journalism at the London Evening Standard, my mentor Sir Arthur had just been fired a couple months earlier as Minister of Tourism by Sir Lynden, so there was no question as to whom I would be “loyal” to, even though it was Sir Lynden who had arranged for me to go to London on the training course.
I was appointed Editor of Bahamian Times, but my tenure in that position was short-lived after I was fired by Sir Lynden for writing an editorial supporting the Dissident Eight. If my memory serves me rightly, the Board of Directors of Bahamian Times, which at the time was poised to become a daily publication, were Sir Arthur, George Smith, Jimmy Shepherd, Bazel Nichols and I.G. Stubbs. I subsequently found out that both Sir Arthur and George were opposed to me being fired.
Of course, after the Dissident Eight made the split official and joined moderate remnants of the disbanded UBP to form the Free National Movement (FNM), I became a founding member of the FNM and Editor of its newspaper, The Torch of Freedom.
George Smith active in politics today and deserves to be recognized as one of the most committed Bahamian politicians to a cause that he believes in.
First elected to Parliament in 1968, Mr. served continuously for 29 years giving meritorious service to the Government and People of The Bahamas. He was Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Lynden Pindling and a delegate to the London Conference on Independence in December 1972. Mr. Smith co-ordinated the preparation for Independence and was Chairman of the Secretariat which organized the celebration of Independence in 1973.
He served in the Cabinet of Sir Lynden for 1 1 years. As Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries & Local Government, he inspired the accelerated production of agriculture and marine products and caused public administration in the Family Islands to be greatly improved. He ensured that Crown Land was granted to enterprising Bahamians, which meaningfully contributed to the economic empowerment of many Bahamians.
Mr. Smith was Chairman of Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation when cellular services were introduced and Chairman of the Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas, when the sale of the Radisson Hotel and adjoining properties took place, thus becoming the precursor of the development of the Baha Mar Resort.
He is a dedicated nationalist, who is deeply committed to the progressive advancement of The Bahamas and empowering ordinary Bahamians.
So, it is absolutely wonderful that Prime Minister Davis has appointed such a dedicated PLP stalwart as Special Advisor on “the preparation for the appropriate events” leading to and after the July 10, 2023 celebrations of The Bahamas’ 50th anniversary of independence.
