Dominica’s ongoing public debate over pending electricity price cuts following the rollout of new geothermal energy infrastructure has become the backdrop for a sharp, satirical take on systemic political missteps and long-simmering social grievances, penned by satirical outlet THE Kwak. The piece centers on a fictional feud between two competing advocacy groups claiming to represent the so-called “Manicou people”, sparked by the recent death of Peele Manicou, a figure depicted in a viral photo moments before his passing.
Residents across Dominica have grown increasingly impatient for answers about when the long-promised reduction in electricity costs will actually take effect after the introduction of geothermal power. Even at a recent official press conference where government representatives confirmed the future price cut, they failed to provide a clear timeline for the change. Compounding public frustration, unplanned outages continue to plague the island’s power grid despite repeated public claims that the outages are caused by manicous — wild opossums that are often blamed for tampering with power infrastructure.
Into this public confusion steps Key Manicou, the brother of the deceased Peele Manicou and founder of the newly formed group *Manicous Against Discrimination (MAD)*. In a public statement, Key voiced outrage over both the ongoing stigma against Manicou people and the government’s mishandling of the country’s power crisis. “It has already been more than a year since my brother’s sudden death, and we still have not seen justice,” Key said. “What has been even more hurtful is the endless insensitive, cruel jokes made about Peele in the days immediately after his passing. Now, the same old pattern of unaddressed power outages and government incompetence has pushed me to speak up again for the dignity of all Manicou people. We are not the scapegoat for Dominica’s power failures, and it is long past time that this truth was acknowledged publicly.”
Key also called attention to a deeper, systemic injustice: Manicou people are still not recognized as full citizens under Dominica’s constitution, barring them from even basic rights like voting. “That is the real power issue that no one in government is talking about,” he added. “Once the government ends discrimination against our community and delivers justice for my brother, I can return to full-time advocacy for our rights. Until then, this fight will not end.”
Not all voices within the fictional Manicou community back Key’s stance, however. Chelsea Manicou, Peele Manicou’s widow and founder of a rival group *Manicous Advocating DOMLEC Emphatically (MADE)*, has publicly pushed back against Key’s claims. “Whatever Key says, I stand against it,” she explained in her response. “I am Peele’s widow, left to raise three young children alone on my own, and you don’t see me out here stirring up controversy. I loved my husband, but he and his brother have always been overly confrontational. How else do you explain my husband sacrificing himself inside a power plant in the name of environmental protest, leaving our family behind? Now I have had to take a job with the national power utility DOMLEC to make ends meet, and they have been nothing but supportive to me.”
The piece closes with a clear disclaimer from its creator, THE Kwak, emphasizing that the entire story is an intentional work of satire. The outlet notes that it uses absurd, silly humor to gently mock public affairs and social discourse, and that the content should not be interpreted as factual. “THE KWAK is not meant to be taken seriously,” the disclaimer reads. “If you do take it seriously, I have some recently electrocuted manicou meat I can sell you. Sorry, ‘manicou people’ meat.”