Prime Minister Gaston Browne Pays Tribute to Sir Gerald Watt – Former Speaker of the House of Representatives

Prime Minister Gaston Browne

Pays tribute

To

Sir Gerald Watt K.C.N. K.C.

Special Sitting of the House of Representatives

15th December 2025

An extraordinary citizen of Antigua and Barbuda, Sir Gerald Watt, passed suddenly, after a brief hospitalization. 

We had hoped for a speedy and full recovery, but unfortunately, he succumbed to his illness.  

His death therefore, made us a poorer people.  

Sir Gerald Owen Anderson Watt KCN KC, born December 19, 1938, died six days before his 87^th birthday. 

Sir Gerald was an independent thinker, a brave and courageous Antiguan man, a physically strong and intellectually-gifted lawyer; a great advocate for justice in the courts, and one who demonstrated his independence by placing himself in positions, to deliver whatever he thought best for his country and its people.

Sir Gerald first came to the public’s attention when he was sworn-in, as a very youthful attorney-at-law. 

In 1971, at age 33, the second premier of Antigua and Barbuda was authorized to choose an Attorney General; Gerald Watt was appointed to that post. Because that administration lasted only five years, Gerald Watt returned to private practice after February 1976.

Sir Gerald built a reputation as a fierce litigator and an efficient lawyer. His interest in the governance of Antigua and Barbuda never diminished. 

When therefore the third Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda appointed him as Chairman of the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) in 2005, he brought that same fierce independence to his job function. 

He faced a tribunal of three judges when an attempt was made to blame him for electoral failures in the 2009 General Elections.

Sir Gerald prevailed. 

He was a man of impeccable integrity, who stood tall and resisted all attempts to sully his integrity. 

He would not allow his reputation as an efficient administrator to be diminished in order to cover the unmistakable errors of judgment made by the UPP leadership, who failed to act, following his many pleas for resources to manage the ABEC and general elections of 2009.  

He would subsequently be denied entry to the ABEC building by a phalanx of law enforcement officers.

I was impressed by his courage and skill in successfully defeating an administration that he served.  

When, therefore, our heritage political party was returned to office in 2014, Sir Gerald was invited by me, to be the Speaker of the Parliament. 

My decision to invite him to serve our people under an ABLP administration, transcended partisan politics and was based not only on my admiration for him but, primarily on his ability and integrity to serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives.   

His rulings during the multiple sittings over ten years, showed him to be compassionate, well-informed, eager to modernize the rules governing parliamentary sessions, fair and firm in his decision-making whenever he was required to rule.

He was an excellent Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

His training as a lawyer, his argumentation skills as a litigator, his judgment as a legal practitioner, all came together to make his display of the parliamentary rules professional and efficacious.  

Sir Gerald lived a full and enriched life.  

He was an avid sports enthusiast; he did track and field, Cricket and Body Building and attended barrows gym regularly. 

I am told that during his Law studies in England he played  county cricket.

He had a love for photography and was an avid Golfer.  

He also had a love for the Seas where he did some sailing and was heavily involved in sports fishing; competing at home and regionally in Guadeloupe and St Martin on his sport-fishing boat called Therapy II. He even held the record for the largest white marlin for some time.

Sir Gerald Watt K.C.N., K.C. was a remarkable citizen, whose time on earth was extremely fruitful. 

He has left his son – Garvin, Nephew John, and other family members a great legacy on which to build.  

His support and good counsel will be missed by the Hon Maria Browne and myself.  We loved him and were thoroughly impressed with him.  

May his soul rest in peace and rise in heaven.   

Sir Gerald will be accorded an official funeral. 

The people and Government thank him for his public service especially, and express condolences to his son and his other relatives, his friends and colleagues. 

Our country has lost a gem 

Honourable Gaston Browne

Prime Minister