Local News

Justice Seepersad: Nation needs leaders of integrity

07 December 2025
This content originally appeared on Trinidad Guardian.
Promote your business with NAN

Jus­tice Frank Seep­er­sad says the coun­try can­not progress with­out lead­ers who act with in­tegri­ty and are pre­pared to make dif­fi­cult de­ci­sions for the com­mon good. He de­liv­ered the mes­sage at the MIP­SHA Pres­by­ter­ian Church as it cel­e­brat­ed its 152nd an­niver­sary.

He warned that many peo­ple in au­thor­i­ty pur­sue per­son­al gain in­stead of ser­vice, say­ing, “Sad­ly, for many lead­ers, it is all about self-ag­gran­dize­ment.” Jus­tice Seep­er­sad said ef­fec­tive lead­er­ship must align with God’s will and must be sup­port­ed by ac­tion, not emp­ty words.

He told the con­gre­ga­tion that god­li­ness is cen­tral to lead­er­ship and ref­er­enced scrip­ture from 1 Tim­o­thy 4:7-10. He said those who guide oth­ers must first dis­ci­pline them­selves in right­eous­ness, re­mind­ing mem­bers that, “God­li­ness is ben­e­fi­cial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and al­so for the life to come.”

Jus­tice Seep­er­sad said the coun­try needs lead­ers who pri­ori­tise the ma­jor­i­ty, chal­lenge the sta­tus quo and have the for­ti­tude to take de­ci­sive steps against those who dam­age lives through crime, abuse and ex­ploita­tion. He added that strong lead­er­ship re­quires hu­mil­i­ty and a will­ing­ness to serve, not­ing that, “True lead­ers act me­thod­i­cal­ly with a ser­vant heart, and through their good works, they en­gen­der trust, ex­ert in­flu­ence and pri­ori­tise the in­ter­ests of all un­der their charge.”

He said de­clin­ing church at­ten­dance and eco­nom­ic chal­lenges sig­nal the need for col­lec­tive change. He called on cit­i­zens to shift their mind­set to­wards God­ly liv­ing, ser­vice above self, and per­son­al re­spon­si­bil­i­ty. He said mem­bers of the con­gre­ga­tion must serve as ves­sels for the Holy Spir­it so that their lives draw oth­ers to Christ.

Jus­tice Seep­er­sad said the coun­try must sup­port lead­ers who act with in­tegri­ty and are guid­ed by God as they take bold de­ci­sions to keep both church and na­tion on a path of peace, pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and pros­per­i­ty.