PARAMARIBO--Soldier, bodyguard to a military strongman, guerrilla leader, businessman, Member of Parliament and now Master of Business Administration. Ronnie Brunswijk has come a long way. The 57-year-old Maroon clinched the title last Saturday, after a three-year online course through the Hawaii headquartered Akamai University.
“I wanted schooling and I went for it. And it cost me a lot of hard work to achieve it. And no, I did not buy it like people seem to think. If I could have bought it, I would advise anyone who wants the same title, to also go to the university and buy theirs too,” he said scornfully.
Brunswijk was a soldier in his early 20s, assigned to the security detail of then military leader Desi Bouterse, when the two had a falling out. He started the Jungle Commando that fought a six-year “Internal War” against the National Army. After the war he went into the gold mining business and then went on to start the ABOP political party that from 2010 to 2015 formed the governing coalition together with the National Democratic Party (NDP) of his former foe Desi Bouterse. He currently occupies a seat in Parliament for his ABOP party that since 2015 has been relegated to the opposition.
Notoriously impulsive and aggressive, Brunswijk is often the brunt of jokes in which he is portrayed as an inarticulate brute. Famous is a brawl on the floor of the National Assembly, during which he viciously attacked an opposing parliamentarian and flung him across the room like a rag doll. The owner of a football team, he is also known for his violent unsportsmanlike antics that got him banned from the sidelines.
It is not strange, therefore, that many reacted with surprise in 2015 when he earned a bachelor’s degree and now again that he has achieved his MBA. For his thesis he researched the use of mercury by small-scale miners in the gold mining sector in Suriname.
He received guidance from Professor Hubert Rampersad, a well-known Surinamese scholar who resides in the Netherlands. Rampersad said Brunswijk did the work and deserved the MBA title. “We should not even give credence to all the rumours about him buying the title. That actually is the real reason why Suriname is so stuck in the past; because people keep voting for politicians who speak well and act like they know everything, but do not invest in themselves to bring the country ahead. Anyone can do what Mr. Brunswijk did,” the professor said.
Brunswijk was elated, having completed a “tough, exhausting three years of study.”
“But I knew what I was chasing and that’s why I persevered. If you want to lead, you have to think innovatively and get schooling,” he said. He added that he hoped that young people take note. “That is another reason why I did this. [Because – Ed.] you are never too old to learn. As long as you are alive, there will be opportunities to develop yourself further.”
Brunswijk said he intends to continue studying, but that he will park those ambitions for now, as he wants to focus on the 2020 elections.
