Grenada Today - The National Newspaper of Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique

"A man of the people, a nice man, a true patriot and brother" that's how Barrister at-Law and President of the Grenada Bar Association (GBA) Ruggles Ferguson described former Prime Minister Ben Jones at a State funeral to mark his passing held at the Grenville RC Church on Tuesday.

Jones, this island's fourth Prime Minister and a Barrister at-Law died at his home in Carriere, St. Andrew's on February 10 at the age of 80.
In delivering the eulogy, Ferguson stated that Jones who is called "Uncle Ben" by many has been described invariably as an illustrious son an outstanding statesman, a committed patriot, a principled man of unquestionable honesty, a dedicated man who never used his public office for private gain.

"He has been promoted as a leader who respected democratic institutions and who ensured that under his leadership those institutions were well protected and preserved" Ferguson noted.

The GBA president pointed out that the former Prime Minister walked upright, lived upright and encouraged his fellow leaders and citizens to be honest and upright.

"Let us learn from the life of this exemplary human being. Let us embrace his rich legacy of honesty, integrity, brotherhood, peace, love, patriotism, simplicity and humility" Ferguson told the hundreds of mourners crammed inside and outside of the Church.

According to the GBA President, "Uncle Ben's" life encompassed many activities in many fields whether as a soldier, sportsman, lawyer, politician, farmer or family man. He noted that apart from his loads of other responsibilities, the former Prime Minister was also a community man, who was involved in civic society organisations and church activities.

In June 1956 Jones travelled to England to begin a career in law where he successfully completed his programme at the Polytechnic and thereafter registered with London University as an external student to pursue a Bachelor of Laws degree.

On February 6th 1962, he was called to the Bar of Gray's Inn and in that same year received the degree of Bachelor of Laws where he joined the firm of Clintons' Solicitors of London where he worked for two years and four months.

He returned to Grenada in October 1964 and opened his private practice in Grenville, St. Andrew's. He took a short break from private practice one year later to act as a Magistrate in St. George's.

In July of 1966 he was appointed by government to set up and run the Department of External Affairs in preparation for Grenada's forthcoming constitutional status of Statehood in Association with Britain. He resigned one year later, in July 1967 to enter politics and contested a seat in the General Elections.

Jones was unsuccessful but he became a permanent fixture in Grenada's politics. In September of 1967, he was appointed an opposition Senator with the Grenada National Party(GNP) and served in that capacity for 12 years, until the Revolution of March 13th, 1979 bringing with a temporary end to the parliamentary structure.

He again rose to political prominence with the restoration of the constitution and the re-introduction of the parliamentary structure in December 1984 when he was elected to the House of Representatives on the platform of the New National Party (NNP) in which he won the St. Andrew's North-West constituency.

He then became a member of Cabinet between 1984-90 holding several ministerial positions such as Minister of Agriculture, Finance, National Security, External and Foreign Affairs and Legal Affairs. He was eventually elevated to the position of Deputy Prime Minister and later as Prime Minister from December 1989 to March 1990 following the death of his close friend, confidante, colleague and long-standing political partner, Herbert Blaize.

When the National Democratic Congress (NDC) came to power in the March 1990 General Elections, Jones was again elected to Parliament and accepted an invitation of the new government to serve as Minister of Agriculture.

In June 2002 he was recognised by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth with the award of Commander of St. Michael and St. George (CMG).