Former Prime Minister Percival James “PJ” Patterson, Jamaica’s longest-serving head of presidency, is formally 90 years previous immediately—however he’s saving the actual celebration for the weekend.
Whereas he’s anticipating just a few guests and cellphone calls at his St Andrew residence immediately, Patterson says the formal observance of his milestone birthday will happen this Saturday, April 12, at The College of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, the place he has remained actively engaged since retiring from frontline politics in 2006.
Saturday’s occasion will embody the disclosing of a pan-Africanist mural on the PJ Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean Advocacy—a tribute seen as particularly apt for a person whose post-leadership years have been outlined by unwavering advocacy for stronger ties between Africa and the Caribbean.
Born on April 10, 1935, in Hanover to Henry Patterson, a farmer, and Ina James, a schoolteacher, PJ Patterson’s journey from rural beginnings to nationwide management is marked by tutorial distinction and political talent. He attended Somerton Main College in St James earlier than incomes a Purscell Belief Scholarship to Calabar Excessive College, graduating in 1953. He then enrolled on the College Faculty of the West Indies (now UWI), incomes a BA (Honours) in English in 1958.
Patterson later pursued authorized research on the London College of Economics, the place he acquired the Leverhulme Scholarship and the Sir Hughes Parry Prize for Excellence in Contract Legislation. Known as to the Bar at Center Temple in 1963, he additionally joined the Jamaican Bar the identical yr.
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His political profession started with the Individuals’s Nationwide Celebration (PNP), the place he rapidly distinguished himself as a strategic thinker and organiser. In 1992, he turned Jamaica’s sixth Prime Minister, a task he held for 14 years till his retirement. His tenure was marked by key contributions to regional commerce negotiations, together with the Lomé Conference and ACP-EU agreements, and numerous main improvement initiatives.
His legacy has earned reward throughout political strains. Talking in Parliament throughout Patterson’s retirement in March 2006, then-Opposition Chief Bruce Golding highlighted Patterson’s influence on Jamaica’s political tradition and worldwide presence.
“No matter criticisms which were product of him prior to now and no matter could also be made sooner or later… nobody can query his dedication to his nation, his love for the Jamaican individuals, or the sincerity of his intentions,” Golding mentioned on the time.
Talking with the Jamaica Observer earlier this week, Patterson mentioned he deliberate to maintain his precise birthday “as quiet a day as is feasible,” acknowledging with a chuckle that some well-wishers would inevitably “cross by way of.”
“However whether or not I prefer it or not, the ninetieth is the ninetieth,” he mentioned. “We needed to discover a affordable location, and ultimately settled on our house on the institute…so the celebration will likely be on Saturday.”
Saturday’s mural unveiling will serve not simply as a tribute to PJ Patterson’s legacy, but additionally as a mirrored image of his enduring dedication to the unity and empowerment of individuals throughout the African diaspora.
