It is my humble privilege today to pay tribute to Brother Ernest Benjamin on behalf of the United Progressive Party. Condolences to Terry Ann, Vaughn and the entire family circle.
All of us who knew Ernest and served with him will remember him as a thoughtful and wise person who believed in doing things the right way. Although he served the Party in several capacities, Ernest was best known for the period that he served as Assistant General Secretary. He became legendary for the way in which he recorded the Minutes of Executive Meetings. It would be no exaggeration to say that he missed nothing, and nothing missed him. I can recall on one occasion that Ernest prepared 20 pages of typed Minutes. And, no, this was not an all-day meeting; only a regular one of the usual duration. It was simply that he was meticulous to a fault.
Accordingly, he was a stickler for following the spirit and letter of the Party’s Constitution; and, with him, there were no short cuts. But Ernest Benjamin was much more than a diligent recorder of notes and recounter of Minutes. He brought to the Party many gifts and talents, among which was his sense of order and structure. This, no doubt, came from his many years working as a conscientious and professional senior civil servant. This man was a thinker whose ideas and ideals had been moulded and conditioned by a very significant period in the history of Antigua and Barbuda and of the Caribbean. He came of age in the late colonial era and was schooled in the traditions of the British Civil Service, rising to the rank of Permanent Secretary. He was highly visible and active in the periods of transition – from colonial rule to statehood to full political independence. He had a keen appreciation for the challenges and opportunities that came with political independence. As an Economics graduate, he understood development economics and had served in the Ministry of Economic Development under the then Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Lester Bird. It was under his guidance as Permanent Secretary that the St. John’s Development Corporation was established.
He carried with him a thoughtful countenance and never seemed to be in a hurry. But below this cool, contemplative exterior, there was an unshakeable firmness in his convictions. He knew what he knew and was not one to be easily convinced otherwise. As a longtime resident of St. John’s City, Ernest was the quintessential “town man” and served for several years as secretary to the UPP’s St. John’s City South Branch. Along with Brother Lenworth Johnson, he shared both a vision and an ambition for St. John’s to become a modern city with a mayor and City Council – and it continues to be our hope that his dream, one day, will be realized.
This son of our soil was a West Indian nationalist who embraced all the hopes and aspirations of Antigua and Barbuda as an independent yet interdependent nation. But his passion was governance: good governance. To this end, and even after dedicating a lifetime to public service, Ernest poured his knowledge and passion into the efforts of The Free and Fair Election League. Even as his health was waning, he served as a co-host and the fount of knowledge for a weekly radio programme on Progressive FM to educate, inform, and inspire fellow nationals to make Antigua and Barbuda fair not only in form – but fair in practice.
His living was not in vain; and we who remain can testify that he helped not just “somebody as he passed along,” but gifted a whole Nation an example of love of country and service to fellow men.
