Accompong ex-colonels Rowe and Williams assail Currie’s Maroon poll calendar and swollen voters’ roll

From Jamaica’s western corridor, two retired colonels who previously headed the Accompong Maroon polity—Meredith Rowe and Ferron Williams—say they will stand in the community’s next leadership contest while sitting Chief Richard Currie mounts his own bid to remain in charge. Speaking on Monday at a press briefing where they each signalled they would run, the pair described the administrative machinery Currie controls as skewed and not fit for purpose.

Both men are ex-members of the constabulary who later won election as colonel. They want the Government of Jamaica to become involved so that how the ballot is prepared and conducted clears what they regard as minimum safeguards.

"We will not support that. It is fake. It is wrong in every way," Rowe told journalists as the announcements unfolded.

Rowe singled out the freshly published calendar: nominations are slated for Friday, 15 May, with voting set just one week afterward on 22 May. "No previous colonel ever approached it in the manner in which he (Richard Currie) approached it," said Rowe. "The elections are normally held between 16 and 21 days after nomination day. We've never had anything like this."

Earlier colonels, Rowe continued, routinely brought prospective candidates into early planning conversations and coordinated openly with the Electoral Office of Jamaica so residents could follow each stage. Without that openness, he cautioned, the present roadmap could heighten unease and pull neighbours apart. "The community is plagued with fear, deception, dissension, and no accountability whatsoever," said Rowe, whose own tenure as chief ran from 1993 to 1998. He added that court papers are already being prepared.

"We are not willing to fist fight with him. We intend to take a legal course through the Supreme Court," Rowe said, explaining that they had retained the services of a renowned law firm to file an affidavit seeking an injunction. He portrayed the filing as a lever to push Currie either to "step aside for good or do the right thing because he has violated the culture, the customs, and the tradition of the Maroons in every facet."

Williams, who held the colonelcy from 2009 to 2021, aligned himself with those worries and added a fresh accusation—that Currie has interfered with the official register of voters. "Over 40 years, the Maroon voters' list had trickled to 1,408, and within three months, Richard Currie put 1,401 names on the list," said Williams. "I am asking the Government of Jamaica to step in because come Friday, it won't be pretty if he persists and try to have a nomination. This cannot happen.; Iit would be a backward step." Williams reminded listeners that membership in the Maroon nation follows fixed routes, yet he was uncertain whether those rules were being properly followed under the current process. "There are three ways you become a Maroon: – one, born and grow as a Maroon; two, you marry into the community; and three, you live for seven years or more and serve in the community," he said.

The Gleaner said several attempts to obtain comment from Currie on Tuesday failed after calls to his cellphone went unanswered.

Currie has earlier framed the approaching vote as a decisive fork for residents, counselling them to emphasise tomorrow’s possibilities instead of reopening old quarrels. "This election is not just about leadership. It is about legacy. It is about freedom. It is about sovereignty," Currie said, adding that his team has concentrated on widening livelihood options inside the settlement and reinforcing self-governance. "We have now showed people that we are capable to steer the Maroon vision, and create the path to driving our own prosperity, and economic sustainability."