Anette Sanford Explained

Anette Sanford
Office1:Senator of the House of Assembly of Dominica
Term Start1:10 February 2020
Term End1:6 December 2022
Party:United Workers' Party
Spouse:Claudius Sanford
Birth Place:Sineku, Kalinago Territory, Dominica
Birth Name:Anette Thomas

Anette Thomas-Sanford (born April 1983) is a Dominican nurse and politician. She served as a Senator in the House of Assembly from 10 February 2020 to 6 December 2022 for the opposition United Workers' Party.

Early life

Anette Thomas was born to a farming family in the Kalinago Territory village of Sineku in April 1983. She was the seventh of eight children; her mother died when Thomas was seven years old. Thomas later married Claudius Sanford.[1]

Sanford graduated with an associate degree in nursing from Dominica State College, and studied health administration at St. Lawrence College, Ontario. She later completed a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Edinburgh via distance learning. In 2018, she launched a six-month program to train professional caregivers for the elderly, children, and the disabled;[2] [3] seventeen students completed the program in its first offering.[4]

Politics

After working as a registered nurse for ten years, Sanford decided to run in the 2019 elections for Chief of the Kalinago Territory.[5] She was the only female candidate; if she won, she would become the first female chief since the colonial era.[6] She took part in the election debate held on 18 July 2019.[7] In the election on 22 July 2019, Sanford lost by three votes to Lorenzo Sanford.[8] This result was also affected by rejected ballots: nine ballots for Sanford were rejected, while only three were rejected for Lorenzo.[9] Although all candidates were officially nonpartisan, Lorenzo had been endorsed by the local branch chairman of the ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP).[10]

In August 2019, the Salybia constituency candidate for the opposition United Workers' Party (UWP), Worrel Sanford, decided to withdraw.[11] Sanford then accepted the UWP nomination as its candidate for the 2019 general election.[12] She also praised the UWP's proposal to give the Kalinago Chief a seat in the House of Assembly of Dominica.[13] At the official launch of her campaign in November, Sanford revealed that DLP officials had offered EC$120,000 and a job promotion if she would withdraw.[14] [15] She lost to the incumbent DLP candidate Cozier Frederick[16] by 265 votes.

Sanford was chosen as one of the UWP's four Senators for the new parliamentary term, taking the oath of office on 10 February 2020. She became the first female Kalinago Senator.[17] [18] She joined the UWP's COVID-19 committee to educate the public.[19] During Nurses Week (11–17 May 2020), Sanford announced that she would donate half of her Senator salary to the Dominica Nurses Association to support its work during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dominica.[20] She also started a Backyard Garden Initiative in the Territory to help residents during the downturn in tourism.[21] In the interest of transparency, Sanford pushed for regular audits of Kalinago Council finances; before 2020, the Council had not been audited for a decade.[22] [23]

In 2021, Sanford co-founded a non-governmental organization called Kibe'kuati to support community development projects in the Kalinago Territory.[24]

Sanford participated in the united opposition boycott of the 2022 Dominican general election.[25] At the November 2022 UWP delegates conference, Sanford contested the election for deputy political leader. The other candidate, Clement Marcellin, was running for both the leader and deputy leader positions. Marcellin defeated Sanford for deputy leader (142 to 54), but lost the leader election (79 to 123).[26] In September 2023, Sanford was nominated by parliamentary opposition leader Jesma Paul-Victor as a candidate for the 2023 Dominican presidential election.[27]

She was elected Chief of the Kalinago Territory in July 2024.[28]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 7 December 2020. Anette Sanford - What Matters To me. 28 August 2021. Another Dominica . Paul. Crask. en-GB.
  2. Web site: 24 August 2018. Nurse launches programme to empower individuals in Kalinago Territory. 28 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  3. Web site: 4 October 2018. Personal Support Worker Program gets underway in Kalinago Territory. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  4. Web site: 5 June 2019. 17 from Kalinago Territory now qualified to provide personal care. 28 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  5. Web site: 27 June 2019. Female candidate for Kalinago Chief promises to improve economic, cultural and political life of her people. 28 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  6. Web site: 11 July 2019. Female candidate for Kalinago Chief promises to set up financial facility in Territory. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  7. Web site: 18 July 2019. Election candidates for Kalinago Chief debate each other tonight. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  8. Web site: 23 July 2019. BREAKING NEWS: 22-year old wins Kalinago Chief election by 3 votes. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  9. Web site: 24 July 2019. Anette Sanford promises to work with new Kalinago Chief. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  10. Web site: 24 July 2019. 'Join me' - new Kalinago Chief to supporters and rivals. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  11. Web site: 19 August 2019. Kalinago Territory: Trouble in political camps. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  12. Web site: 26 September 2019. UWP names Annette Thomas-Sanford as its Salybia candidate. 29 August 2021. The Sun Dominica.
  13. Web site: 12 September 2019. New UWP candidate to use 'grassroots movement' to bring change to Salybia constituency. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  14. Web site: 11 November 2019. Anette Sanford to DLP: 'I won't be purchased'. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  15. Web site: 14 November 2019. Anette Sanford speaks out on alleged $120,000 DLP offer. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  16. Web site: 5 February 2020. Three women along with Clemo chosen to be senators by the opposition UWP. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  17. Web site: 4 March 2020. Speaker Joseph Isaac makes grand entrance. 29 August 2021. The Sun Dominica.
  18. Web site: 2016. Political leaders. 5 September 2021. Kalinago Archive. en-US.
  19. Web site: 13 March 2020. United Workers Party forms committee to educate public on COVID-19. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  20. Web site: 18 May 2020. Anette Sanford donates 50% of parliamentary salary to DNA. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  21. Web site: 1 January 2021. Anette Sanford announces backyard garden competition winners; seeks to restore confidence in subsistence farming. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  22. Web site: 4 August 2020. Kalinago Chief announces audit of Kalinago Council finances amidst allegations of misappropriation of funds. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  23. Web site: 26 July 2021. Kalinago protesters demand explanation for Council funds alleged missing. 29 August 2021. Dominica News Online. en-US.
  24. Web site: About Kibe'kuati. 29 August 2021. Kibe'kuati. en-US.
  25. Web site: Senator Anette Sanford was live . Facebook . 12 February 2023 . Starting at 12:57 . 16 November 2022.
  26. Web site: 2022-11-27 . Dr. Thomson Fontaine is the new political leader of the United Workers Party . 2023-02-12 . Dominica News Online . en-US.
  27. Web site: 2023-09-21 . Opposition leader Jesma Paul Victor nominates Anette Sanford as her choice for Dominica's presidency . 2023-10-07 . Dominica News Online . en-US.
  28. Web site: Anette Sanford calls for unity after historic win; promises to deliver . Dominica News Online.