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The people turned out in their thousands last Sunday to give support to the Women’s Arm of the New National Party as they held their annual Convention and Rally which took place at Tivoli in St. Andrew. The theme of the Convention was “NNP WOMEN AT WORK SUPPORTING POSITIVE CHANGE.” At the Convention a new executive for the NNP Women’s Arm was elected. Those serving on the new executive are:-

The Rally started with an hour of Gospel fellowship and which was followed by the presentation of the six Women Candidates of the New National Party. The process was led by Hon. Claris Charles who has served for two terms as Parliamentary Representative for St. John’s and has decided not to contest that seat in the upcoming elections. The six women are Hon. Claris Modeste Curwen who is the present Parliamentary Representative for St. Mark’s, Hon. Yolande Bain Horsford who is the present Parliamentary Representative for St. Andrew South West, Senator Emmalin Pierre, Senator Ann David Antoine, Senator Brenda Hood and Mrs. Delma Thomas.

Giving the feature address was Hon. Olivia "Babsy" Grange, who is the Jamaican Minister for Information, Culture, Entertainment, Youth, Sports, Community Development, Women’s and Gender Affairs. Hon. Grange told the NNP women that in Grenada their Party’s colour is green and that in Jamaica the colour of her Party is also green. She said that whenever the election is called it must be green all the way. She also expressed confidence that whenever the election is called it will be a fourth term for the Keith Mitchell led New National Party Government. Hon. Grange took time off to shower some praise on the women of the New National Party. She told them that they must be the foot soldiers of the NNP and that they must have the desire to bring home victory for the New National Party. The Jamaican female Minister expressed the view that no political Party in the region can survive without women.

Prime Minister Mitchell she said knows that and this is why Grenada leads the way in the region and in the world with fifty percent of women in the Government. She warned the massive crowd that they must not change this Government. She told them, “when you have a good driver you stay on the bus and if anybody else come you say to them you want no bad driver because the good driver is Dr. Mitchell.” She advised that as women they have a duty to support each other and also have a duty to reach out to the men and to voters as well. The powerful Jamaican woman Minister challenged the women of the NNP to recommit themselves to the women of the New National Party so that the Party can get a fourth term in Government. “You will write history in the history book when your Party wins a fourth term,” she told them. Hon. Olivia Grange credited the New National Party with having been able to withstand the disaster of two hurricanes and under the leadership of Dr. Keith Mitchell to have been able to bring recovery to Grenada in record time. That she described as a Superman achievement. She ended by warning Grenadians that when they have a Government which is tested, tried and proven they must not change it.

An elated Dr. Mitchell told the gathering that the New National Party has taken Tivoli by storm. He told them that if they had gone into Carlton Junction there would not have been any place for people to pass and that not even an Ant would have been able to pass. He said that some people tried recently to fool the people of Grenada by asking them to come out to a Gospel Concert but when they reached there they saw many with yellow jerseys. NNP, he said, is not fooling anybody because when NNP tell them to come out and see NNP it is NNP they are seeing. The NNP Party leader reminded all that Sunday was Passion Sunday and that the NNP is celebrating with the passionate women of this Country. In speaking about the six women contesting seats under the banner of the NNP, the Party Leader assured all that it was never a plan conceived by the New National Party but that the six women have just emerged. Dr. Mitchell paid glowing tribute to Hon. Claris Charles who has served in several areas of Government and up to this time. He told the cheering crowd that although Hon. Claris Charles will not be contesting any of the Seats as a Candidate he has already assured her that she will be continuing to serve in his Government after the next elections. He also spoke about the women Candidates who are at this time serving in Government and of the valuable contributions they are making and will continue to make after the next elections. Recognition was also to Mrs. Delma Thomas who for the first time is contesting the St. Andrew North West Seat on behalf of the New National Party. He expressed the confidence of that new Candidate’s ability to bring home the Seat on behalf of the New National Party.

The NNP Leader informed all that with the increasing cost of living the Heads of Government of Caricom at their recent meeting have decided to reduce the Common External Tariff (CET) on a wide range of goods and as such making it less costly for the citizens of the various States. This he said, was in keeping with the call made by Grenada for Caricom to take a united approach on the increases in the cost of living within the region. Dr. Mitchell also elaborated on the fact that many of the Governments throughout the region and including the new Government in Jamaica have followed the lead of Grenada in the introduction of food baskets for their vulnerable citizens. He asked the locals that instead of buying and eating the foreign goods they must grow lots of their local food and eat more of their local food which in the long run is more beneficial for their health. Dr. Mitchell then touched on the various measures which the Government has put in place to make the lives of Grenadians more rewarding. Those coming in for special mention were the GTEP Programme where thousands of young people are involved to bring them to a state of readiness for the job opportunities which will come with the several investment projects which are now on stream. Another is the Emani programme which has provided job opportunities for thousands of the young Grenadians. The importance of the small business program which has attracted the involvement of many locals and which in his words is helping to bring developments throughout Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. Coming in also for special mention was the eighty million agriculture project initiated by Hon. Gregory Bowen and the Ministry of Agriculture and which will help in the diversification of the agriculture industry. In acknowledging the fact that Grenada has suffered from a series of violent activities in recent times Dr. Mitchell was quick to point out that Grenada unlike several other territories does not suffer from a large measure of organized crimes and that most of the crimes spring from disputes and that the Police must be commended for the quick apprehension of those involved. He commended Government Ministries such as the Ministry of Youth and Social Development for the part they are playing in bringing hope to the young people of our nation. The Churches he said are also playing their part and that they too must be commended.

Dr. Mitchell warned that the Police are our first line of defense and that if anyone wants to play games with the laws of this land then there will be serious problems ahead. He then told the thousands of cheering supporters that they are now pushing him to a date for elections by the massive show of support he had seen on that evening. He told them that after the youth Convention of the New National Party which is carded to take place on the 20th of April any number could play.

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