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Uncertainty continues to grow in the Indian Creek Village in the Toledo District, with villagers deeply divided over the leadership change. You may recall that in January this year, the government gazette announced the revocation of Jose Choc’s mayoral appointment and Felipe Sam’s deputy mayor appointment. Through the Attorney General’s Office, Manuel Ack became the newly appointed mayor and Nicolas Choc became deputy mayor. However, the former did not support the decision and sought and granted an injunction in court. The matter has since sparked deeper divisions as the Attorney General’s Office directed the newly appointed leaders to still maintain a level of authority in the village while complying with the court order. This is an issue currently before the Belize High Court with no set timeline for resolution. Today, however, villagers attended a meeting where they spoke about the importance and urgency of a resolution and made it clear that they do not want the Toledo Mayors Association or the Mayan Leaders Alliance to be involved. Senior Reporter Paul Mahung attended the meeting and spoke with Treasurer Anselmo Choc.
Anselmo Cholom, Treasurer: “It will definitely have a significant impact on the community because who will they turn to? Right now we have Mr. Manuel Ake who is still the magistrate in our community.”
Reporter: Is Mr. Ake the former mayor?
Anselmo Cholom, Treasurer: “Mr. Acker is the new mayor.”
reporter: What about the former mayor?
Anselmo Cholom, Treasurer: “Former mayors Jose Choc and Felipe Sam will perform customary duties.”
reporter: Who decides?
Anselmo Cholom, Treasurer: “I’m not sure who decided that, but we received a letter from the Ministry of Justice stating that purpose.”
reporter: The villagers obviously disagreed with this.
Anselmo Cholom, Treasurer: “The villagers do not agree with this. They want the TAA and Mayan leaders to stay away from the community and make decisions only within our community. The voice of the people must be heard and must be respected. This is what they are demanding today.”
reporter: So, am I correct in saying that Indian Creek villagers do not want the MLA (Mayan Leaders Alliance) or TAA (Toledo Alcaldes Association)? Please comment on this.
Anselmo Cholom, Treasurer: “Yes, they don’t want the Mayan Leaders Alliance, nor do they want the TAA to interfere in our community because the mayor of the Toledo Mayors Association is not obliged to do so. It is not mandatory. It is you, the mayor himself who chooses to be there without the permission of the entire community.”
reporter: This is a village meeting. Who called it?
Anselmo Cholom, Treasurer: “This meeting was called by the elders and concerned residents of Indian Creek.”
reporter: I noticed that the former and second mayors are not here. Is there a reason for this?
Anselmo Cholom, Treasurer: “Because they won’t be here. They don’t want to hear from us. Their only thought is, well, we make the decision through the Mayan leaders and their lawyers.”
reporter: Do you know if they were invited?
Anselmo Cholom, Treasurer: “No, no invitation.”
reporter: OK. What’s next? What’s the way forward?
Anselmo Cholom, Treasurer: “Okay, the next step is that Mr. Manuel Ack and Mr. Nicolas Choc are now seeking litigation. They are going to challenge this in court.”
The new mayor, Manuel Ack, also said in an interview that he had the support of many villagers who mentioned the problems they had with the old mayor.
Manuel Ake, Nueva Alcalde: “I am glad to see that on this particular day, we are here to make a decision with the people, the people have stepped up and I am glad to see that they have said what they wanted to say, they mentioned the issues that they did not like that were raised by the previous leaders. Yes, we had a lot of challenges with these previous mayors. This is where the villagers have concerns about the changes with these people because they are not working with the community and the village council.”
reporter: How long have you been elected mayor?
Manuel Ake, Nueva Alcalde: “So I was elected on November 6, 2023. I became the new leader of the Indian Creek Village People.”
reporter: Can you recall how that election was conducted?
Manuel Ake, Nueva Alcalde: “The election was held by the people of Indian Creek. We had as high a turnout as we have in elections today. So I became mayor. The people chose me and appointed me, but I never thought I would be the leader of the village. But I was happy to listen to the people. I told them I could work for them, even though we didn’t get paid. We didn’t give anything. I love working with the people and seeing the change in the people. We can’t sit in a corner and stay the same as before. I’m happy to see my people come out, they’re growing, people are changing, and they’re happy to work with them and they’re happy to work with me.”
The appointments in the gazette are retroactive to November 2023. According to Ack, this was an election in which villagers participated, not a direct appointment. We will have more on this issue in tomorrow’s news program.
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