While his preferred option is for peace, Chief Richard Currie, the head of the Accompong Maroons, says he stands willing and ready to fight to defend the sovereign rights of the people he was elected to lead, serve, and protect.

In a video recording, seemingly in response to recent statements by National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang and Senior Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay, the head of the Jamaica Constabulary Corporate Communications Unit, challenging the Maroons’ sovereignty over their ancestral lands, Currie made it clear that he is committed to defending the interest of his people.

“I must inform the entire Jamaican public that I do not seek permission to defend my people. It is my duty to defend my people, and it should be the duty of any leader to do the same,” he said. “ … It is my fiduciary duty and there is no power on Earth – temporal or spiritual – that can separate me from my duty and my undying love for my people.”

MORE