Can someone tell my mother-in-law that poverty is no disease

Dear Taiwo,
I never saw coming from a poor background or family as a disease or something to be ashamed of. I grew up in a home where hard work and struggle were the order of the day. Despite their very low financial status, my parents made sure that we lacked nothing.
Whatever inadequacies they had financially, they made up for in love and care. My father would not mince words telling us that both of them (our parents) knew what they were doing when they decided to have just three children. He said they would have stopped at two, but my paternal grandmother wouldn’t hear of it because my father was an only child.
A product of polygamy, his mother struggled to raise him alone and she did her best despite the hostile environment. My mother’s background was not better off either, so they decided they would have the number of children they could cater for, and give the best of everything they could to the best of their ability.
Our parents couldn’t go further than secondary school and they both learnt tailoring afterwards and met at their place of apprenticeship. With the determination to make it in life and give us the best, they worked extra hard and I am so proud of them. I am the second of their three children and the only girl, I am proud to say that all of us are graduates. Not just graduates in any course, but very good and lucrative courses.
My elder brother studied Geology; he got employed where he did his Youth Service in Warri, I studied Medicine and graduated as a medical doctor; the youngest; however is a lawyer. We all are doing well in our chosen fields and careers. We did not rest our oars on first degrees alone; that is to show how much our parents appreciated education and desired that we had the best.
I met my husband at the College of Medicine. Though, from a very comfortable home, I wouldn’t say they are rich, but I don’t know why his mother feels that my background should be a problem to our union. Both his parents are into business. His father is a popular fabric merchant; while his mother deals in household utensils. Without apologies, both of them are not as educated as my parents despite my parents’ supposedly low educational status. My husband’s uncle, (his father’s elder brother) who went to school at the expense of all his other siblings encouraged him to make education a priority for his children. His parents had seven children and all of them are equally educated abroad, only Oluseye my husband studied in Nigeria, though like others, he had been abroad several times on holidays.
I see no reason to feel deprived, because even if we did not study abroad, the Lord has been good to us; we have been there several times and my elder brother had taken my parents abroad on holidays too. What my parents however refused to concede to was the fact that we asked them to rest from their tailoring. They just wouldn’t hear of it.
Like I said earlier, Oluseye and I started dating from the Medical College. He took me home to meet his parents and I did same. My parents did not raise an eyebrow about his parents, but when his mother learnt who my parents were, she immediately changed towards me though she did not say anything, but her attitude said it all. I raised my fears with Seye, but he said I should ignore whatever attitude I perceived as he was going to marry me and not his mother.
Whenever I went to visit them or I had a cause to go home with Seye, his mother would ignore and treat me like a beggar. In fact, I overheard her telling some of her family members and Seye’s siblings that “mi o mo nkan ti Oluseye ri lara omo tailor, oju aye mi ko lo ma a fi se aya”.
One of his siblings who really liked me and heard when she told Seye and I all these words told me. I told her that I heard all what their mother said. I wouldn’t have gone to their house, I always avoided doing so, because of Seye’s mother, but it was his father’s birthday celebration, so I had to, because his dad personally asked me to come celebrate with the family.
Despite Seye mum’s hostility, his father liked and treated me like one of his children. He called me, “Doctor mi”, and I thanked God that when he was sick and was going to die, he did in my arms. I equally loved him like my father too. My husband was out of the country then, but I did my best.
I really cannot explain the basis for my mother- in –law’s hostility towards me, because she equally extended this to my kids. My husband and I agreed to have two children, and God blessed us with a boy and a girl. Seye is not the only one with two kids in the family, but I was shocked when his mother told me to my face that she was sure that the fear of my poverty-ridden background was the reason I refused to have more than two children. “O le ko oshi ran iran mi” were her exact words.
I have been married for nine years and I have taken all sorts from my mother-in-law and my husband’s siblings who think her way/ their attitude and words had never affected me nor changed who I am or what I feel for my husband. Despite our humble beginning, my parents are still up and doing, strong and healthy.
Seye’s mother suffered a stroke two years ago, and was affected by another early this year and she had to move in with us. I took care of her like I would take care of my own mother, but she just wouldn’t stop the insults. She relates to me even in my own house like a rival. I have learnt to ignore her. On the fateful day while she was at it, her son walked in, she was in the guest apartment and she was shouting, her son heard everything. I have had a cause to report her to Seye several times and she would deny whenever he raised it.
I didn’t hear what my husband told her that day, but afterwards she refused to answer my greetings or speak with me until the day my parents visited. My husband was away in India and our daughter fell ill, they heard and came to see us. There was no negative name under the earth she did not call them. I can take all she’s been doing to me, but extending her hostility and caustic tongue to my parents is what I won’t take.
I called my husband immediately; he spoke with my parents on phone and apologised to them. I told him I would only condone his mother until he returns. I can’t take her attitude any longer. She has other children, she can stay with. Seye has been pleading with me since then and my refusal is beginning to put a strain in our relationship, but I have had enough of her. Please, what should I do? Somebody help me before this woman destabilises my home or makes me go berserk.
Folasade.

Teachers have responsibility, despite the risks
Monday, April 29, 2013

THE Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) says it has advised its members — for their own good — not to become physically involved in breaking up fights at their schools “unless they think they can physically do so”.
In the words of Mr Clayton Hall, who heads the JTA: “We ask that teachers seek to prevent or stop these occurrences by giving clear instructions. There have been cases where teachers have tried to break up fights physically and have had the law come at them. So we have asked that teachers, unless they think they can physically do so, not to get involved in any physical altercation.”
This newspaper has no argument with the JTA on this issue of physical contact and the possible legal implications. We are on record as suggesting that given today’s realities teachers are legally endangering themselves when they beat children.
Further, as Mr Hall pointed out, and as yesterday’s Sunday Observer article on Mr Garfield Dennis illustrates, teachers have been known to get seriously hurt after being caught up in physical altercations involving unruly students.
We feel though that teachers and school administrators, and indeed all adults, have a moral, if not a legal responsibility to — in the words of Mr Hall — give “clear instructions” to “prevent or stop” violence and misbehaviour in schools.
Sadly, in the case of the tragedy at Penwood High School which left a 16-year-old allegedly slain by a 15-year-old, we are told that there were no adults presenting themselves to give those “clear instructions”.
In other words, during six minutes — which video footage showed is how long the fight between the two Penwood High teenagers lasted — not a single adult turned up to shout “Stop!”
If that’s really true, then that, to our mind, is an absolute disgrace.
We believe that adults who were at Penwood High, and would have heard the hubbub and excitement that fateful day without apparently even seeking to find out what was happening, should hang their heads in shame. Those who chose to simply ignore the altercation should seriously consider whether they have any moral right to remain in charge of children.
Further, we are told that in the immediate aftermath of the tragic incident at Penwood High no one called the police. Indeed we are told by the police that they only became aware of the incident on being notified by medics at Kingston Public Hospital who had pronounced the child dead. The police allege that after the tragedy, a school administrator instructed a student who had filmed the incident to send the video to the administrator’s phone and then delete the footage from her phone.
Again, if all of this is true, it amounts to negligence, immorality and, at best, very poor leadership on the part of the authorities at Penwood High.
We note Minister of Education Rev Ronnie Thwaites’ pledge to empower deans of disciplines — who as we understand it are only assigned to some schools — to be empowered as district constables in order to get around the legal impediments to physical contact. That’s fine.
But ultimately principals and teachers are the ones in charge of children during school hours. Even as they operate strictly according to school regulations and the law, school administrators and teachers have a responsibility to do their jobs to the best of their ability. Should the day come when a teacher or administrator feels unable or unwilling to monitor/supervise children properly, they should, in good conscience and for their own well-being, resign.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/Teachers-have-responsibility–despite-the-risks_14163572#ixzz2S0VkbsXh

Title: Money Laundering Heads Ordered To Pay Nearly $150m In UK Court

Message Body:
Big confiscation order against money launderers

Two Jamaicans, who headed a major money laundering network, have been ordered to pay back nearly one million pounds or approximately J$150 million of their criminally acquired assets. The money is to be shared by the Jamaican and United Kingdom governments.

Fifty year-old Burnett Morris and his wife, Paulette, were ordered to forfeit the sum following a April 23 Proceeds of Crime legislation confiscation hearing at the Crown Court in London.

Mr. Morris will be forced to pay back more than £700,000 with nearly £200,000 being payable within the next six months. Mrs. Morris was ordered to pay back approximately £190,000, of which with £173,000 will be payable within the next six months.

Mr. Morris was linked to a money laundering network of seven people that led a lavish lifestyle from the proceeds of their criminal activities in the UK and Jamaica.

Justin Felice, Head of the Financial Investigations Division, told RJR News the confiscation was part of his agency’s bid to take the profit out of crime. It will he said, ”result in, hopefully, substantial amounts of money coming back to Jamaica.”

At their trial in May 2011, the court heard how Mr Morris’, along with other members of the network, used associates and family members to send small amounts of money, often £900 a time. Over a six-year period, the network transferred more than £500,000 pounds .

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/big-confiscation-order-against-money-launderers

Benefit cheats laundered £600,000… and had deposit box at Harrods jailed for 12 years

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391674/Benefit-cheats-laundered-600-000–deposit-box-Harrods.html#ixzz2RzL8zZmA
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
In Jamaica they lavished millions on mansions, racehorses, gems and sports cars.
But in Britain, Burnett and Paulette Morris still saw fit to milk the benefits system for all its worth.
The fraudsters claimed more than £60,000 in handouts while sending £900 a day from their drugs empire to Jamaica to pay for two million-pound homes and a 16-horse stable.
The couple lived with their three children in a cramped housing association semi in Bromley, Kent, claiming £20,553 in housing allowance, council tax benefit, £42,000 in income support and even free school meals for their two youngest.
At the same time, Paulette Morris, 49, spent thousands of pounds a week at Harrods and Harvey Nichols on designer clothes, diamonds and handbags.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391674/Benefit-cheats-laundered-600-000–deposit-box-Harrods.html

See also (Jamaica Houses and co-accused):

UK-Jamaica Money Ring Smashed

A Jamaican couple who rolled in millions of pounds sterling while still accepting welfare benefits were yesterday convicted of money laundering in a London court.

Burnett Morris, 48, and his wife, 49-year-old Paulette – who British police say led a large-scale money laundering ring which operated between Jamaica and the UK – were found guilty of conspiracy to launder money.

The court was told that the network used associates and family members to send money to Jamaica, often £900 (J$123,000) at a time.

The cash was reportedly sent almost daily, sometimes up to five times a day.

Over a six-year period, the network reportedly transferred more than £500,000 (J$68 million) to Jamaica.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110420/lead/lead1.html

SEE ALSO 2011 STORY

Three convicted in connection with large-scale money laundering network

20 April 2011

Three people were found guilty at Kingston Crown Court yesterday (19 April) for their part in a large-scale money laundering network which operated between Britain and Jamaica.

Yesterday’s convictions follow an extensive investigation by financial detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service’s Trident, working closely with colleagues from Jamaica.

“We are determined to put criminals out of business by seizing their assets in the UK and abroad and prosecuting them for money laundering.”

Burnett Morris, 48, his wife Paulette Morris, 49, were yesterday found guilty of conspiracy to launder money; co-defendant Kevin Robinson, 40, was found guilty of transferring criminal property out of the jurisdiction of the UK.

Four others – Gerard Dean Wright, 28, Fiona Holness, 32, Roisin Keville, 34, Dwayne Samuel, 21 – had pleaded guilty to transferring criminal property out of the jurisdiction of the UK at an earlier hearing.

(Holness and Samuel are siblings).

Sentencing is scheduled to take place at Kingston Crown Court on 27 May.

Burnett and Paulette Morris were remanded in custody; the others were bailed until sentencing.

Trident’s Financial Investigation Unit began investigating after identifying a criminal network based in south London that was sending regular sums of cash to associates in Jamaica through various money bureaux. The prosecution maintained that the cash was the proceeds of Burnett Morris’ drug dealing on the streets of south London.

Key suspects were identified in the UK and Jamaica, and the MPS worked with officers from the Financial Investigations Division in Kingston, which is part of Jamaica’s Ministry of Finance and Planning, to gather evidence against them.

The network – headed by Burnett Morris and his wife Paulette – used associates and family members to send small amounts of money, often £900 a time. Cash was sent almost daily, sometimes up to five times a day. Over a six-year period, the network transferred more than £500,000. In addition Paulette spent more than £250,000 on travel to and from Jamaica and Florida and on luxury items including designer clothes, a diamond valued at £8,000 and other jewellery. She rented a safety deposit at Harrods.

Whilst living a millionaire’s lifestyle, Paulette and Burnett Morris claimed benefits, including housing allowance, Council Tax benefit and free school meals for two of their children.

Enquiries in Jamaica have shown that the family own two luxurious houses on the outskirts of Kingston. One of these homes was in the process of being built and Paulette had been ordering expensive material from Miami, Florida, to be imported to Kingston. This included a large quantity of marble and a £16,000 Bang and Olufsen sound system. When officers visited Jamaica as part of their inquiries there was evidence of a pool being dug out within the grounds of one of the houses, named Golden Acres (the grey house in the photographs).

The Morris’ also own at least 14 racehorses, which regularly race at Caymanas Park, Jamaica.

The defendants were arrested on 14 May 2009 at addresses in south-east London and Cambridge during an operation that involved more than 100 officers from Trident, Lewisham borough, the Met’s Territorial Support Group and Met dog units.

When officers searched Burnett & Paulette’s homes in neighbouring Reigate Road and Ballamore Road, Bromley, they found lock-knives, knuckle dusters, machetes and other weapons. More than £4,000 in cash was also seized.

Yesterday’s convictions demonstrate how the Proceeds of Crime Act is being used to ensure that crime does not pay by targeting criminals financially. Officers will be seeking to confiscate the networks assets in the UK and in Jamaica working with colleagues there under the Asset Sharing Agreement in place between the two countries. The UK Government has an asset sharing agreement with the Jamaican Government, which will be invoked in order to repatriate assets currently in Jamaica.

Detective Inspector Gill Barratt, from Trident’s Financial Investigation (Payback) Unit, said: “We are determined to put criminals out of business by seizing their assets in the UK and abroad and prosecuting them for money laundering.

“We will continue to effectively work with colleagues in Jamaica to ensure they cannot profit from crime in the UK by sending money home to Jamaica.

“Our intention is to take out the criminal role models in both countries by taking away their homes, cars and other ill-gotten possessions. In cases like this money seized from criminals will go back into tackling crime on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Since its inception in April 2007 the Trident Financial Investigation (Payback) unit has obtained court orders to repay nearly £7m from nearly 400 criminals operating on the streets of London. The unit is also part of the Serious and Organised Crime Command which this year alone has hit over 150 criminals for court orders totalling over £14m.

Full details of the defendants:

Burnett Roy Morris, 48, of Reigate Road, Bromley

Paulette Donna Marie Morris, 49, of Ballamore Road, Bromley (correct – they are married but lived at separate addresses near one another)

Kevin Kent Robinson, 40, of Hobart Road, Cambridge

Gerard Dean Wright, 28, of Farmstead Road, SE6

Fiona Holness, 32, of Reigate Road, Bromley

Roisin Keville, 34, of Pendragon Road, Bromley

Dwayne Lloyd Samuel, 21, of Carlton Grove, Peckham, SE15

—

A Harare woman has dragged to court her sister on accusations that she ruined her marriage of 28 years after falling in love with her husband.

Shilla Ziso, who was applying for a protection order, told the court her sister Marutema Mabhandu, is refusing to move out of their matrimonial house claiming she is pregnant.

“She came as a housemaid and by then I was in Botswana. I was not even aware of the looming agenda she had in mind of tearing my marriage,” said Ziso.

Ziso said she no longer has happiness in marriage as Mabhandu always threatens to assault her if she forces her to leave.

“She is violent. She always shouts at me saying she took my husband because I am barren,” added Ziso. Ziso told the court Mabhandu took advantage of her barrenness.

In response, Mabhandu admitted she was deceived by Ziso’s husband, claiming he told her Ziso had agreed to a polygamous family.

“I will not go anywhere because we are both his wives. He impregnated me saying they had agreed that he should marry another wife since she can’t fall pregnant,” said Mabhandu.

Magistrate Vongai Muchuchuti ordered Ziso to seek an eviction order through the courts if she no longer wants her sister at their matrimonial house.

“I only encourage you to keep peace. In terms of eviction, this court has no obligation to pass a judgment,” she said.