Liam “Owusu” James was an early NJM member.  James was also the leader of the student organization OREL who viewed Bernard Coard as a mentor.

During the Grenada Revolution he spent time in the Soviet Union for training.  He served as the Chief of National Security and held the official post of Deputy Minister of the Interior.  His responsibilities included security and secret police. James was also a member of the NJM’s powerful Central Committee.

It was Liam James who first proposed the idea of joint leadership of the NJM – between Maurice Bishop and Bernard Coard – in a Central Committee meeting on or around September 14, 1983, as a solution to several issues that the party was facing.

We need to look at this situation in a special way.  We are seeing the beginning of the disintegration of the [NJM] party.

— Liam James

James was one of the Grenada 17 and was imprisoned in 1986 for his role in the murders of Maurice Bishop and his supporters. He was released from prison in September 2009.