title taken from “Roll It Gal” by Alison Hinds
Everybody Loves Mia
Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados Labour party (BLP) won all 30 seats in the January 19th election, securing a second 5-year term. The landslide victory comes as no surprise for those who have been following her trajectory since 2018.
In the September 2021 issue of British Vogue covered Mottley’s rise to prominence. Boss Lady Mottley won the May 24, 2018 general election in Barbados with over 70% of the popular vote and all 30 seats in the legislature. The 55-year-old maverick is no stranger to politics and diplomacy. From 1994 to 2008, she held a several political roles including Deputy Prime Minister, Attorney General, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Education, and Minister of Economic Affairs and Development. She has served as leader of the House, a member of the National Security Council and of the Barbados Defense Board. Days after becoming Prime Minister, she issued her statement to the nation and promised the citizens that she would get to work immediately shoring up the country’s infrastructure. “We need to invest in our people, our education, our health, our safety and our public infrastructure – the roads, the buses, water, sewage systems and garbage collection.”
In November 2018, she restructured the corporate tax rates and offered tax deductible allowances only for capital investment, renewable energy, and research and development. The goal was to accelerate economic recovery and to encourage local companies to hire more employees and increase investment.
Since then, she has been on a diplomatic world tour. She participated in Ghana’s Year of Return and promised to improve relations between the two countries (including establishing a travel route that did not require first traveling to the U.S. or the U.K.). She also met with Kenyan president Kenyatta to discuss a bilateral investment treaty. “Our region and Africa have been separated, not just by the Atlantic Ocean, but by centuries of division and exploitation.”
Mottley is also working on creating a Diaspora Unit within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to bridge the gap between Barbadian residents and those living abroad. However, in her most historic act of governance, she was “responsible for realising the country’s long-held desire to remove the Queen as head of state, and replace her with a Barbadian citizen” (British Vogue).
Slavery was abolished in the region in 1834, followed by a four-year apprenticeship period where people continued to work for free in exchange for housing on the plantation. Freedom was celebrated in 1838 at the end of the apprenticeship period with over 70,000 Barbadians of African descent taking to the streets singing:
"Lick an Lock-up Done Wid, Hurray fuh Jin-Jin (Queen Victoria).
De Queen come from England to set we free”
Having achieved independence from Britain in 1966, the government removed the last tie to the Queen.
On November 30, 2021 a ceremony was held to commemorate Barbados leaving the reign of the British monarchy after 396 years, to name Dame Sandra Mason as president-elect and the new head of state, and to declare pop singer Rihanna the country’s National Hero. Proof that Mia Mottley is a woman of her word.
Caribbean leaders congratulated Mottley on her recent win and pledged their support as she enters her next term. CARICOM’s Secretary General Carla Barnett, the first woman to hold that post, congratulated Barbados’ first female Prime Minister stating that she looks forward to “working with [her] once again in deepening and strengthening our integration movement and in confronting the many challenges besetting the community at present…. You can be assured, Prime Minister, of the support of the CARICOM Secretariat in that endeavour.”
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell, the only other PM in the region to achieve a landslide victory, referred to her win as proof that the people appreciate the great work that she and her team have been doing.
“Sister Mia and I have had a close friendship over the years and I’ve already assured her of Grenada’s commitment to continuing the historic ties between our two countries.”
Photo cred: Caricom
The close friendship has led to speculation that PM Mitchell will follow her lead in removing Queen Elizabeth as Head of State.
Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr. Timothy Harris added his praise saying, “The people of Barbados have spoken and have entrusted you and your team to continue to put them first. I look forward to working with you as we advance the regional agenda for sustainable growth and development.”
A sentiment echoed by President Ali of Guyana.
“Your- re-election provides us with the opportunity to concretise the plans and programmes that we have discussed to build on the cooperation between Guyana and Barbados.
I look forward as well, to our continued collaboration at the regional level as we endeavor to advance our integration process and to secure the benefits that our peoples deserve.”
Among the initiatives the two will continue to work on is increasing tourism. Almost 6,000 Guyanese citizens will be sent to Barbados over the next few years to receive world class training in the tourism industry as part of a new agreement between the two nations.
Her leadership not only bolstered international relations, but has had a positive impact to the economy. “In 2021, the economic freedom score for Barbados climbed higher in the moderately free category. The main reason for the improvement was better management of debt by the government” (Heritage.org). Last year, she was awarded the 2021 Champions of the Earth Award, the UN’s highest environmental honour, for her policy leadership and an ambitious plan to phase out fossil fuels by 2030. She also put plans in place to create a medical marijuana industry in Barbados that will allow locals to profit from the endeavor.
With her record of transparent leadership and the support from regional leaders, it will be exciting to see what Mia does next. Big up all my Bajans! Your PM is blazing trails and we can’t get enough!
