Bearing placards reflective of their views on different social and other issues, persons participated in the march which began in the vicinity of Reliable Motors at Cedar Trees, Charlestown, and ended at Electoral Office Chapel Street.
“Lawd! We can’t take it no more give we back de premier that we had before” “Uncle Joe Must Go”, “Save Nevis”, “Jesus Save NRP Spends”, “Down with corruption” and “Jesus Wept” were some of the messages which were on display during the march.
Following the event, a meeting was held at the Memorial Square in Charlestown.
Leader of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), Vance Amory outlined the basic objectives of the march and expressed that, in his view, they were met.
“The objective of the march was to get citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis and residents to take a stand in unity against what we as leaders of the CCM and others persons see as the irregularity in the electoral system…We also rallied them to take a stand with us and for themselves…against the crime, against the increase in taxes which is eroding the standard and quality of life of our people, take a stand against creeping dictatorship where people are threatened and warned against marching. That is something that we have to guard against and also to march and stand in unity to protect and preserve our democratic process and our democratic system. Those were broadly the objectives that we set.
“I think these were accomplished. The people came, they were there…We had a very large turnout the number of persons who turned out in response to the call stand for and protect our country…it’s just not Nevis we are dealing with right now because all of those conditions which we were marching against affect both St. Kitts and Nevis and the people of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
Mr. Amory expressed that the culture of fear which seems to exist must be eliminated and that the citizenry must demand service of the highest regard from those whom they have elected to serve.
“Too long our people have been afraid of Prime Ministers and Ministers of Government. We are the ones who elect them and they ought to be guided – even though we’ve given them some responsibility to manage our affairs by voting for them – they are responsible and ought to be responsive to the populace of our country. And I say that we must ensure that we as citizens – whether its St. Kitts or Nevis, whether we support one party or another – …we need to realise it is our responsibility individually to stand for what is right and decent and stand against mismanagement in government, stand against squandering of the people’s resources…”
He noted however, that now that the march is over, the citizenry and residents of Nevis must be resolute in its stance for good governance and in forwarding its demands. He expressed that that would take much more than a march but would require a change in mind set.