Prime Minister saddened by death of Ambassador Dudley Thompson

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Ambassador Dudley Thompson

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has expressed deep sadness at the passing of Ambassador Dudley Joseph Thompson. Ambassador Thompson died Friday morning, one day after his 95th birthday. Mrs. Simpson Miller said she was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mr. Thompson, an outstanding Jamaican politician, diplomat and statesman, and a personal and dear friend for more than four decades.

Mrs. Simpson-Miller said Ambassador Thompson’s passing is exceptionally painful for her, as it was only recently after her electoral victory, that he called with a most heart-warming congratulation. She further described Mr. Thompson as a man of firm convictions, articulate, sharp on his feet and witty, who loved his country with a passion and served it with honour and distinction.The Prime Minister also expressed profound condolences to his widow Cecile, children, grandchildren, and great grandchild.
   
Born in Panama on January 19, 1917 to Daniel and Ruby Thompson, Dudley Thompson was a life member of the People’s National Party, and was elected Chairman of the PNP in 1979. He was a PNP Senator during the years 1962- 1978, and was leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives in 1978. He served as Member of Parliament for St. Andrew Western in 1978 to 1983; Minister of National Security in 1978; Minister of Mining and Natural Resources from 1977 to 1978 and Minister of State, with the responsibility for Foreign Affairs from 1972-1975.  

Dudley Thompson was Jamaica’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Namibia.
He was also Jamaica’s chief representative in the conference on the Law of the Sea and played a leading role in securing Jamaica as the permanent headquarters for the International Seabed Authority. He also introduced the Office of the Ombudsman to Jamaica. Ambassador Thompson practised law in Jamaica, East Africa, Dominica, the Bahamas, and Bermuda, and served as president of the Jamaican Bar Association.

He received his early education at the Mico Teacher Training College, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in 1947, and later called to the bar at Gray’s Inn (London). A freedom fighter and Pan Africanist, he was a leading member of the team of lawyers who represented the former leader of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, in the 1950s. At the time of his death, Ambassador Thompson was the President of the World Africa Diaspora Union.

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Pan-African Jamaican statesman Dudley Thompson has died at 95

Ambassador Dudley Thompson, a historic figure in Jamaica and the Pan-African global movement, died Friday, a day after his 95th birthday, Jacqueline Charles of The Miami Herald reports.

He was a historical figure in the politics of Jamaica and in the larger global struggle to unite people of African descent. Hard to miss with his cheerful disposition, intellect and passionate conversations, Ambassador Dudley Thompson drew crowds no matter where he went. A former Jamaican cabinet minister who served as a minister of national security, justice and foreign affairs, Thompson died Friday morning in New York, the day after he turned 95. He was scheduled to celebrate the next week in New Jersey. He lived in Weston.

“We will miss his intellect, his stature,” said Jamaica’s Miami Consul General Sandra A. Grant Griffiths, whose office confirmed the death. “He was all over the place.” Griffiths last saw Thompson in December when he attended a holiday gathering at her residence. There, like elsewhere, he drew crowds to his side as he discussed Jamaica, and Africa, the continent where he served as an envoy in several countries including Nigeria, Namibia and Ghana, and practiced law as a young man. It was while defending the late Jomo Kenyatta during his Mau Mau rebellion trial in Kenya that Thompson became well-known across Africa.

Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller described Thompson as “a man of firm convictions, articulate, sharp on his feet and witty. Dudley Thompson loved his country with a passion and served it with honor and distinction.” Thompson was up with the times. He blogged and had his own website. www.DudleyThompson.4t.com. His dream was to see a united Africa and was president of the World African Diaspora Union.

According to his website, he was born in Panama and raised in Jamaica. He served in Britain’s Royal Air Force during World War II, and he was a Rhodes scholar. In the early 1950s, he practiced law in Tanzania and Kenya, and became involved in the nationalists struggles in both countries. In October, Thompson made history when the African Union made him the first person to become a citizen of the continent and gave him a passport. Dozens of African presidents attended the ceremony, said Djibril Diallo, senior advisor to the executive director of the UNAIDS and advisor to the President of Senegal on Diaspora Affairs.

Diallo said Thompson left him a voice mail on his cell phone just days ago telling him to call because he had some suggestions on their ongoing collaboration to promote Africa. “I was working on getting him an honorary ambassadorship for the entire African continent,” said Diallo, whose relationship with Thompson dates back more than 20 years. “He’s amazing as a Pan-Africanist, and has worked to the last hour just preaching Africa and the diaspora.’’

For the original report go to http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/20/2599977/pan-african-and-jamaican-statesman.html