Photo: Ruth Shoman, president-elect
BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 8, 2023
Amandala has confirmed from multiple sources that the Council of Management of the Belize National Teachers’ Union (BNTU) was sent a letter of withdrawal purportedly by Ruth Shoman, the president-elect to the Union’s Council of Management, via e-mail today. At least one source we spoke with today told Amandala that the Council still has to reach Shoman in person to confirm the authenticity of the letter. Were it to be true, the move would be coming a mere 25 days after she was elected on April 13, 2023.
What is certain is that the Union’s Council of Management had scheduled a special meeting for later this month to discuss how to address concerns raised by some regular members and Council members after information unknown to many was circulated after the election about the past of the president-elect. We are told it is the first time that the Union is facing such a matter and must now decide the way forward, including whether the withdrawal is accepted or simply acknowledged.
As we reported in our article “Incoming BNTU president under internal fire” dated April 20, 2023, shortly after the election, Union members started circulating a civil suit judgment regarding theft from the then employers of Ruth Guerra, (purportedly a young Ruth Shoman) in 1998 when she says she was 19 years old. Addressing the matter for the very first time in an appearance on the LOVE FM Morning Show on April 20, Shoman explained that what occurred at the time was in the context of her having been the victim of gender-based violence. She added that the father of her children was facilitated with a passport to take them out of the country without her permission and that when she signed an agreement to repay Island Marketers Ltd. and Belize Yacht Club Ltd., it was because she was told that if she signed, she could more quickly get out of the mess she was in and she could then go find her children.
Sources tell Amandala that Shoman’s ex-common-law husband and his sister reached out to Union representatives to refute claims that Shoman made about him on the morning talk show.
Shoman is set to begin her presidency at the beginning of July 2023.