The Government of Jamaica has nominated Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, for the post of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. However, the nomination has caused some contention among the CARICOM member states.
Dominica-born Baroness Patricia Scotland, the current Secretary-General, had already indicated that she will be seeking to be re-elected in June. Last month, Caricom leaders had also issued a communique in which they expressed their “overwhelming support for the re-election of Baroness Patricia Scotland as Secretary-General of The Commonwealth”.
Following the announcement of Johnson Smith’s nomination, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne, criticized the move, describing it as a “monumental error”, and said he is hoping “this matter will be resolved amicably”.
He cautioned that the decision to “break the CARICOM consensus” and present Kamina Johnson Smith as a candidate, “will only serve to divide CARICOM”.
The Commonwealth secretary-general is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat and is responsible for representing the Commonwealth publicly.
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness defended the nomination of Johnson Smith, saying her ministerial achievements in international affairs are well known within and beyond the Commonwealth.
He said he is confident in Johnson Smith’s ability to play that leadership role and as such considered it important to engage in a process of consultation, starting with colleagues in Caricom.
Minister Johnson Smith, Jamaica’s first female Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, was first appointed in 2016.
She is one of four children of former diplomat Anthony Johnson and took an interest in politics and international relations at an early age.
She received a Master of Laws in Commercial Law from the London School of Economics, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill and a Bachelor of Arts in French and International Relations from the University of the West Indies, Mona.
She has held several crucial leadership posts both regionally and internationally, having served as President of the OACPS Council of Ministers, Chair of CARIFORUM and the CARICOM Council on Trade and Economic Development.
She has represented Jamaica at numerous bilateral, regional, hemispheric, and international encounters, and was the first Jamaican Foreign Minister to be invited to G7 and G20 ministerial meetings. Jamaica is currently the African, Caribbean and Pacific Coordinator within the World Trade Organization, a role headed by Minister Johnson Smith.
An attorney by profession, she worked previously in private practice and as corporate in-house counsel.
Senator Johnson Smith is currently serving in her second term as Leader of Government Business in the Senate. She is married to developer, Jason Smith.
