BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Oct 16, CMC -Prime Minister Mia Mottley says “today is truly a sad day for us,” as she paid tribute to Sir Henry deBoulay Forde, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91 years.
The details surrounding the death of Sir Henry, the last surviving member of the triumvirate of young Barbados Labour Party (BLP) politicians that included former prime ministers Sir Harold Bernard St John and Tom Adams, have not been disclosed.
Mottley, the first woman to head a government here, said Barbados had lost “a man of unmatched intellect, the consummate example of a gentleman in the political arena, a man who always put others and country above self”.
She said that Sir Henry’s legacy and lessons would live on for generations if they were well preserved by those who follow.
“He has left enough lessons that if we are good stewards of his legacy, he will live on in our party and our nation for many generations,” she added.
Sir Henry, the last surviving of the ‘Young Turks’ of a BLP politicians who took over the reigns of leadership from then prime minister Grantley Adams in the 1960s, later became the island’s chief legal adviser, diplomat and two-time parliamentary opposition leader.
His political career spanned the first three decades of an independent Barbados becoming the first representative of Christ Church West in 1971, going on to serve as a Member of Parliament for seven consecutive terms, up to 1999, making him one of the longest-serving MPs in post-Independence Barbados.
He also served as Attorney General and Minister of External Affairs in the Tom Adams administration from 1976 to 1981.
Sir Henry was an early architect of republicanism in Barbados. The 1996-1998 constitutional review commission he chaired recommended how Barbados should settle all of the arrangements for the presidency.
Sir Henry will be accorded an official funeral, with details to be announced after consultations with his family. He is survived by his widow, Lady Cheryl, and three sons, Nicholas, Martin, and Ryan. A fourth son, Patrick, predeceased him in June this year.
“To the entire Forde family, we owe you a huge debt of gratitude for lending him in service of country for more than half a century,” the prime minister said.
CMC/gh/ir/2024