Minister of Labour and Social Security Karl Samuda will mark his final day as portfolio minister on Monday (May 22), having signalled his intent to resign from the Andrew Holness-led Cabinet.
Samuda first announced his exit just yesterday, as keynote speaker at the ministry’s Labour Relations Awards Banquet held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.
Serving for nearly three years in the position after the passing of former minister Shahine Robinson, Samuda seemingly cited his age in confirming his departure.
“I’m overdue. I said I would serve for two-to-three years. Two-and-a-half is about where we are,” he told Nationwide News on Saturday.
He further contended that his withdrawal from Cabinet will give Prime Minister Holness room to appoint an appropriate replacement.
Samuda’s departure confirmed rumblings within the ministry since May 12, when now-deleted images from an executive meeting were first posted to Instagram.
Before assuming the Labour Ministry, Samuda was minister responsible for education and information portfolios respectively.
Samuda will purportedly remain as Member of Parliament for St Andrew North Central, for which he has been the standard-bearer for the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) since 1980.
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