COLVILLE KAMAU MC BARNETTE	CHRISTOPHER STROUDE

Colville 'Kamau' McBarnette and Christopher Stroude are two of the 17 persons in jail for 16 years connected with the events of October 19th 1983, which saw the tragic deaths of Maurice Bishop and others. Kamau and Chris are our own. They have been wrongly accused and convicted. They are innocent!

Kamau

Kamau grew up among us. In Tanteen. Like any other ordinary Grenadian youth of the seventies he hanged out on the block with us. He was a longstanding member of the Angel's Harps Steel Band Orchestra. He was the captain of the band from1975 to1979. He was the captain when the band made it's famous album, 'As Prescribe'.

Kamau was also an activist. Older folks in the area would remember him in the 1970's going from door to door bringing the message of liberation and hope. They would also remember him as leader of the N.J.M. Support Group in the Tyrrel Street/ Carenage/ Tanteen area, being involved in many community projects, both before and during the Grenada Revolution.

Kamau also taught our children. He was a teacher in Hindsey school from 1975 to1976; and he taught extension classes, in GBSS, from 1975 to 1979, to current and past students aspiring to do their O'Levels, Kamau has been active in the Prison Education programme, in particular teaching inmates on Death Row to read and write so that they could read their Bibles and communicate with their families. 
Kamau is just a regular guy. He is a steel band man. He is a journalist. He is a teacher. He is many things. But he is no murderer.

Chris Stroude

Chris too is one of us. He grew up in San Souci. But he has been bonded to Tanteen from the time he was a teenager. He went to the GBSS. He moved and lived in Tanteen. He was a member of the GBSS dance troop. He was a drummer. Chris loved his culture. And he was a teacher. Like Kamau he taught at Hindsey School. Many who know Chris say that teaching is his true calling. Many of his former students still refer to him fondly as Teacher Chris. In prison Chris has taught many, many inmates to read and write. He has even written a book on how to teach basic literacy. Chris has also developed himself into a quite competent artist. Some of his works have been on public display. Chris has also advanced himself academically. He obtained a BSc (Honours) degree in Sociology from London University in 1997.

Chris, like Kamau, is therefore a man of many callings. He is a teacher. He is a lover of culture. He is an artist. He is a sociologist. He is no murderer.

Why Kamau?

So why are Kamau and Chris in prison?

Kamau is in prison because he was a member of the NJM Central Committee; and he ended up on the 'wrong side' in the internal party dispute. This is unjust. No matter what view one may have of the October events; no matter what one may think of the dispute within the NJM – no one should be charged, framed, convicted for murder and sentenced to hanged purely because of the position he took in internal party discussions. That is not justice. That is witch-hunting.

Kamau was convicted on the basis of the evidence of one witness. That witness, Cletus St Paul, was the former chief bodyguard of Bishop. He was arrested on October 12th 1983, according to him, on the orders of the Central Committee. He therefore clearly had an 'axe to grind' against the Central committee members, including Kamau.

St. Paul's evidence was that he was standing in handcuffs at the entrance of Fort Frederick on October 19th, 1983 when he saw the members of the Central Committee arrive in a great haste. Upon their arrival, St. Paul said, they grouped together for a brief moment right in front of him. He did not hear what they were saying but he saw them shaking their hands and moving their heads. Shortly after that in the presence of others, St. Paul said that one member of the central committee made a short statement to the soldiers that Bishop and others had taken over the Fort and that they must be liquidated. Whereupon St. Paul said the Central committee members shouted 'Central Committee orders!' and the soldiers responded, 'We obey! We obey!'

Kamau was convicted of murder because St. Paul called his name as one of those who had arrived at Fort Frederick. But it was easy for St. Paul to call Kamau's name. He just had to remember who were the members of the Central Committee and make sure to call their names. At the preliminary inquiry St. Paul had forgotten one name. That person was set free. Kamau was not that fortunate.

It is highly significant that in November 1983 Kamau was at his home in Tanteen. He was not a military man; hence he posed no threat to the security of the invaders, they were content to have him free.

However in mid November 1983 he was asked by the Americans to report to their HQ on Lucas Street. He complied. There he was handed over to officers of the Barbadian police. He was taken to Fort Rupert where he was beaten and tortured by several Barbadian police who forced him to sign a statement saying that he was in a meeting at the top level of Fort Frederick on October 19th 1983, where the matter of what to do about Bishop was discussed; and the meeting decided that Bishop was to be killed.

At the time the foreign police tortured Kamau to sign that statement they were hoping, that with this statement over his head they could force him to turn Parmassar witness and give false testimony against his fellow defendants so as to save his skin. But Kamau is too conscientious and honourable a brother for that. He could not take that route. He would not commit perjury and condemn others in order to save himself. He was therefore framed on the basis of the evidence of Cletus St. Paul.

It is just totally ridiculous to suggest that Kamau had anything to do with sending troops to retake Fort Rupert and with the events that followed. Kamau was not a military man. He was never involved in military affairs during the revolution. He was a journalist. He was Deputy Minister of Information and manager of Radio Free Grenada as it then was. In fact, on the morning of October 19th 1983, Kamau’s principal concern and preoccupation was over the fact that RFG had suddenly gone off the air without notice.

Why Chris?

Chris Stroude was convicted on the basis of the evidence of a Parmassar witness; that witness placed him on the top square of Fort Rupert at the time Bishop and others were killed. Significantly the fire chief, who was at the Fort when the final burst of firing killed Bishop and others, said that when that shooting took place, Stroude was standing right in front of him urging him to speed up with putting out the fire. Indeed one of the vehicles on fire belonged to Stroude and his wife. That is why the fire chief so vividly recalled his urgency and location at the time of the fatal shooting.

The situation is particularly unjust for Stroude in that he could have lost his life on October 19th; for he was in the building, which housed the Operations Room, and could have been killed when the shooting started on the tragic day upon the arrival of the armoured vehicles. Because of this, many people in the community have expressed surprised that Chris was ever charged, not to mention convicted of murder.

Prison life has been very hard on Kamau and Chris and their families. Their children have suffered. Their wives have suffered. Their parents are suffering every day. Kamau has been very ill over the last four years. He is suffering from potentially life-threatening illness. In November 1983 Chris was badly tortured by the Barbadian police. As a result he has suffered injury to his neck which still worries him.

All this pain and all this suffering not because Kamau and Chris are guilty of any crime: but because of their revolutionary activities over the years, their association with what is considered the 'wrong side' of the 1983 conflict and their refusal to betray their friends by giving false evidence against them.

Prison is always difficult for the prisoner and his family. In the case of Chris and Kamau the suffering is many times heavier because these brothers are innocent.