First Chief Minister ET Joshua honoured

Notes of praise went up from the Kingstown Cemetery as drummers, Spiritual Baptist leaders, Government officials, family, and others gathered at the graveside of the late Ebenezer Theodore Joshua, first Chief Minister of the nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

A number of Spiritual Baptists made up more than half the audience present at remembrance ceremony.

The remembrance ceremony was held at the Kingstown Cemetery on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, three days short of the 34th anniversary of Joshua’s death on March 14, 1991.

It was one of two ceremonies where Vincentians who made seminal contributions to the country were recognised. The other two persons recognised the late Robert Milton Cato, this country’s first Premier and Prime Minister, and the late Phyllis Punnett, who penned the national anthem of SVG. They were remembered on Thursday, March 6, at a ceremony at the Calliaqua Anglican Church.

Getting the conversation started about recognising Joshua’s work was his granddaughter, Shonnette Johnson-Shallow. She delved into Joshua’s history and background, specifically speaking to his modest upbringing and his fight for human values, and laws tailored to protect the rights and well-being of others.

“He was referred to as a social activist whose goals and focus were to engineer the upgrading, expansion, and improvement of the socio-economic political space and conditions of the functionally disenfranchised masses,” Shallow said.

She expressed gratitude to the government for naming the E.T Joshua Airport and the Joshua Center in his honour, and suggested further honouring his legacy by renaming the Joshua Centre to something more fitting, “since Joshua is merely a surname. Why not [specify the name] to be the E.T Joshua Centre to fully honour his name and contributions,” she said, before raising the question of naming him a national hero.

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