“Can I tell you that sometimes laws don't mean that they are morally right? But we have been made to think that once it is a law and it is violating our rights then we should not move towards changing it,” Hon Fahie said.

The Premier was at the time talking about how the law was used to oppress slaves, and the ancestors of the VI, where they were punished for trying to assimilate and unite.

“Had they been caught trying to speak to each other, then they either would have been whipped, put in a cage or even killed, and guess what? That was part of the law,” he said.

The Premier was at the time talking about how the law was used to oppress slaves, and the ancestors of the VI, where they were punished for trying to assimilate and unite.

Premier Andrew A. Fahie, right, in a January 5, 2021, House of Assembly (HoA) sitting said the people in the territory should question a system under which one person has no accountability when everyone else does.

Changing laws in the VI

Premier Fahie’s speech came on the heels of the Government embarking on a constitutional review to put more power in the hands of the VI, and more moves to change laws aimed at limiting the powers of the Governor.

The Premier in a January 5, 2021, House of Assembly (HoA) sitting said the people in the territory should question a system under which one person has no accountability when everyone else does.

“If the Premier goes down the street tomorrow and hit someone or slap [them], the Premier can be arrested. If the Governor goes down the road tomorrow hit somebody or slap... he is immune.”

The Premier continued, “Something is wrong and what is even more wrong, Mr Speaker… is that a lot of our people don’t even want us to address these things,” he said during the closing remarks of the debates on the Disaster Management Act (2019).