First woman Kalinago Chief, Anette Sanford, calls for unity
Following her historic election victory in the Kalinago Territory on Monday, Anette Sanford, chief-elect, calls for unity.
“Let us work together, let us cooperate, our hearts guiding us to prioritise the Kalinago Territory. We should ignore our political differences and concentrate on growing our neighbourhood. I am your leader, hence I will assist you and enable us to achieve exactly that,: said Sanford.
With 692 votes, Sanford won by a landslide, well above her nearest competitor, Natasha Green, who scored 272 votes. Her triumph made her the first woman in history to be chosen Kalinago Chief, shocking even those living in the Kalinago Territory.
She also promised not to disappoint. “I promise you I am going to work and will keep my word.”
Professionally a nurse, she ran on a United Workers Party (UWP) ticket in Dominica’s 2019 general elections after Worrel Sanford, the party’s intended candidate, withdrew. She dropped 265 votes to the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) candidate Cosier Frederick.
She ran in the Kalinago Chief elections that same year but lost by just three votes to Lorenzo Sanford. Reversed ballots dominated the outcome of that election: nine Annette ballots were rejected, while just three were rejected for Lorenzo.
Sanford swore the oath of office as one of four UWP senators on February 10, 2020. That produced history since she was the first Kalinago woman-appointed Senator in the House of Assembly of Dominica.
In the days before the elections, many believed that the contest between entrepreneur Natasha Green and Sanford would be close.
Sanford informed her supporters in her victory speech on Monday night that she said during the campaign she would be winning by three hundred votes, not losing by three votes.
“And we did it”, she remarked.
Historically, a Chief was crucial in keeping the Kalinago people united. Chiefs chosen by the Elders for certain purposes, such as hunting or fishing excursions, were not able to exercise power once the mission was finished, even before the European arrival. This was so because a few families typically comprised Kalinago communities.