WESTERN BUREAU:
THREE OF the candidates, who will be contesting one of the two parliamentary seats in Hanover in the upcoming general election, were given a stern lecture this past Sunday, courtesy of the Hanover Minister's Fraternal and the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ.

In a service held at the Hanover Parish Church, western Hanover candidates Ralston Anson of the People's National Party (PNP), Travis Spence of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and Leonard Sharpe of the NDM/NJA, sat side-by-side in the front pew as Reverend Royland Thompson, of the Brownsville United Church, lectured them on the rudiments of being good leaders. The three Eastern Hanover candidates ­ the PNP's Lloyd Hill, Barrington Gray of the JLP and Winston Malcolm of the United People's Party (UPP, who were all slated to be in attendance were absent.

"Your private life now becomes public life, the persons who never noticed you before are now going to notice you and notice how you deal with them," Reverend Thompson told the trio. "You are going to go through some tough times, things won't be easy but you need to be strong, firm and steadfast."

"As leaders your 'no' must be 'no' and your 'yes' must be 'yes'," continued Reverend Thompson, who encouraged the candidates to be humble on the campaign trail. "Be careful of the things you say, don't make any promises you don't plan to keep."

In looking at the wayward conduct of some of the persons who are on the campaign trail with the candidates, Reverend Thompson encouraged the candidates to try and exert some control over these "followers." "So often I see people on these motorcades with body protruding from windows of vehicles, they need to desist from doing those things," Reverend Thompson said. "Those people you lead, must understand that they must look up to you. So when you speak, you must do so with a level of authority because at the end of the day, you are going to be the one left with the problem." In conclusion, Reverend Thompson urged the candidates, who said that they were "born again" Christians, to walk with God and be a good example to their followers.

Also in attendance at the service were Ministers from the Assemblies of Holiness, Baptist Church, the Salvation Army, Full Gospel and the United Church and returning officer for Hanover Beryl Roper. The officiating minister was the Reverend Father Percival Lynch, Rector of the Hanover Parish Church.