Dark Forces Influencing BVI Leaders
Talk show host and clergyman Claude Skelton Cline has claimed that unseen "dark spirits" or jumbi are influencing the British Virgin Islands' leadership and preventing national progress. Speaking on his radio programme Honestly Speaking, he linked this alleged spiritual influence to recurring political dysfunction, a dominant ruling party operating through coalition, and a disorganised opposition.
Outspoken talk show host Claude Skelton Cline has suggested that unseen forces are shaping political behaviour in the British Virgin Islands and blocking the territory from achieving sustained progress. Speaking recently on his radio programme Honestly Speaking, Skelton Cline said the territory often appears poised for success but repeatedly fails to break through, a pattern he argues cannot be explained by ordinary political shortcomings alone. "There are spirits — dark spirits, what you call jumbi — that are presiding over this country and its people," he said, adding that "covenants and contracts and altars" have been erected over the land.
Skelton Cline framed this as a recurring phenomenon in which leaders "practice transgression, to gain, and to maintain power," and urged that the issue be named and confronted rather than ignored. He described the territory as a people of "almost" — consistently close to achievement but unable to secure lasting breakthroughs.
He also tied the alleged spiritual influence to group decision-making, saying otherwise rational and respected individuals can act differently when gathered to make national choices. "You have to wonder how otherwise smart, trained, college-degrees, common-sense, church-going folk — you can engage them one-on-one and stand in agreement — but when you put us together to make decisions in the interest of the entire country, a different spirit overtakes us," he said.
Using local politics as an example, Skelton Cline argued the Virgin Islands Party effectively remains the only functioning political party, governing through a coalition after failing to win a clear majority. He noted that some politicians who previously supported a vote of no confidence later joined the same administration, calling that behaviour "not normal." He also criticised the National Democratic Party for what he described as a poor reorganisation after the 2019 elections and a "half-cocked campaign" in 2023.
Skelton Cline is widely known both as a clergyman and as a commentator, though some in the community dismiss him as part of the political class he often criticises. His remarks add a spiritual and moral dimension to ongoing debates over governance, party politics and accountability in the BVI.
Whether residents see his comments as a literal diagnosis or as a forceful metaphor, they reflect wider public frustration about perceived recurring failures in leadership and the need for clearer pathways to national progress.
Primary source: BVI News