Dudus, mayor linked in cable

KINGSTON, Jamaica – A United States diplomatic cable released by the WikiLeaks web site alleges that Mayor Desmond McKenzie collaborated for years with the indicted Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.
The cable, from September 2009, said that Coke had close contacts with Mckenzie and the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.
The cable added that Coke policed his Kingston slum administering welfare programmes and marshalling voters in return for lucrative government contracts.
Coke was extradited to the United States in June. Some 76 people died in battles leading up to his arrest. (CMC)