Ronald Green

Ronald Milner Green was at different times the leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) and leader of the opposition as well as a senator in Dominica. He attended City College of New York, Manhattan College, and Columbia University for his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and pre-doctorate studies respectively. His great-grandfather was Edward Richard Green, a district magistrate, who purchased a family estate in Felcite near La Plaine village in the 1920s; and his grandfather was Rupert Green, a town clerk. His father was Vivian Green.

Green was born in Roseau to a prominent family, and at the age of 11, he left Dominica to join his parents in New York. After his university studies, he lectured at a Teachers College in Nigeria for three years as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer; and also at the National Teachers College of Makerere University in Uganda for another three years. He returned to Dominica in 1974 after his pre-doctorate studies at Columbia University and settled in his grandfather’s old estate house in La Plaine.

Green founded Wassen, a youth group in La Plaine to empower young rural men on community life. Wassen is a Patois word for roots. He also co-founded the Small Projects Assistance Team (SPAT) in 1981. He joined the Movement for a New Dominica (MND), a left-leaning party, and got elected to the La Plaine Village Council in 1980. He served five terms on the council and eventually became the chairman over 16 years of diligent service.

In 1980, he contested the 1980 general elections to represent La Plain constituency under the Dominica Liberation Movement (Alliance). This political party was a coalition or alliance of PM Rosie Douglas’ Popular Independence Committee (PIC), Pierre Charles’ Worker Peoples Vanguard (PWV), and Dr. Para Riviere’s Peoples Progressive Party (PPP).

He eventually joined the UWP and became a Member of Parliament for the La Plaine constituency in 1995. When the UWP was the ruling party in Dominica, Green was appointed as the Minister for Education, Sports and Youth Affairs from 1995 to 2000. He was re-elected to represent La Plaine again as MP from 2000 to 2005. And in 2006, he was elevated to the position of deputy leader of the UWP but he became the political leader when Earl Williams resigned. He became the Opposition Leader in 2008.

Ronald Green contested the 2009 general elections but lost to the rival party. He and four other UWP candidates challenged their electoral losses in the court but the petitions were dismissed for lack of merit. Being a United States citizen as at Nomination Day, he renounced his US citizenship before Election Day to contest the elections.

Due to his loss at the polls, newly-appointed Opposition Leader Hector John appointed Green as a senator in the House of Assembly in 2010. But in 2012, Edison James took over from him as the political leader of the UWP and he ultimately became a trustee of the party.

Green is married to District Nurse Jocelyn Austrie and has two daughters Malaika and Josina. Malaika has a Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Syracuse, and Josina has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas.