The late, great Mr. Goldson famously said, “The time to save your country is before you lose it.”

But it may be that we who are of African descent in Belize have lost what we thought was our home, or perhaps it is merely a case of our choosing to migrate in huge numbers to what we consider a better situation — the U.S. of A.

In any case, I feel that tension is growing in Belize in different areas, particularly in Belize City (waterfront and cruise terminals) and Toledo (minerals and customary land rights). And I feel that, for whatever the reason(s), the predator Lord Michael Ashcroft shows no inclination whatsoever that he will cease to flex his business and financial muscle in The Jewel. In fact, it may well be that he and his Belizean minions will increase the flexing.

In 2008 thereabouts, then Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh made a ruling which would have prevented Lord Ashcroft’s penetration into KREM Radio, which was founded in 1989.  

In 1994, KREM Radio, under the management of my dad, C. B. Hyde, got a $75,000 loan from Lord Ashcroft’s bank to buy a badly needed transmitter for KREM. When the time came for me, as KREM chairman, to sign the loan papers, I was informed that part of the loan deal was that I had to sell 10 per cent of KREM Radio (out of my then 40 percent holdings) to an anonymous entity by the name of Sagis Investments Limited. 

Sagis paid me $25,000, which I immediately handed over to KREM, which was struggling financially.

It so happened that the transfer of the 10 per cent to Sagis was not finalized legally, unknown to me. I operated from 1994 to 2007 under the assumption that this Sagis owned 10 percent of KREM, and that my shares had been reduced to 30 percent.

In 2007, Lord Ashcroft took KREM Radio to court to take possession of his 10 percent, the identity of Sagis now being exposed.

In court, I remember becoming so angry at the questioning of my dad that when it became my turn to be questioned by the Ashcroft attorney, one Nelson from the United Kingdom, I heard my voice squeak. I was embarrassed. I had testified in court many times, and this had never happened to me. I felt my dad had been abused, and that there was nothing I could do about it. My frustration was total. 

The Chief Justice’s ruling was that, it being the case that the KREM ownership clearly wanted nothing to do with Sagis, Lord Ashcroft should accept the return of his $25,000, along with the interest which had accrued on that money over the course of the 13 years from 1994 to 2007.

Lord Ashcroft refused to take back his money cum interest. It was obviously extremely important to him to penetrate KREM, so he appealed the Conteh Supreme Court verdict at the higher court, where two out of three Appeals Court justices ruled in his favor.

KREM was not in any kind of financial position to appeal to the highest court in our jurisdiction — the Caribbean Court of Justice. Thus, Sagis owns 10 percent of KREM. Regrettably, beloved, regrettably.

A radio station is a powerful thing when it is in the hands of roots people. A radio station can put people in the streets. This is and has always been of concern to the Belizean power structure, because control of KREM Radio is in the hands of the same family which owns the leading newspaper in the country. The background story to KREM’s 34 years of existence would be a very interesting story for investigative journalists. It’s been a real struggle.

Now the sword of Damocles hanging over our collective Belizean heads is this International Court of Justice (ICJ) business. Sagis is a KREM problem, not Belize’s.

Things have really changed in Belize since I was pushed into public life here in 1969. I ran in three elections, two municipal (1971 and 1977) and one general (1974). I lost them all. But today, one of my sons is the Deputy Prime Minister of Belize. One of my sons-in-law is the Mayor of Belize City, the nation’s financial and population center. I have never been to any of their offices, and I am careful not to say, write, or do anything which would embarrass or compromise them.

My situation is unfair to those of you who have supported Kremandala over the decades. You need for me to speak outright, and I am failing to fulfill my responsibilities. I confess. I will say this, however: I have become very hostile to Lord Ashcroft and his Belizean minions, and I will fight them with the breath that remains in my body.