Looking over the tenure of Kamina Johnson-Smith as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, she has hardly put a foot wrong and has represented the country well.

That situation concerning the election of the Commonwealth Secretary last year was not of her making, she was offered up as a sacrificial lamb in some political machinations involving the UK’s Boris Johnson who was seeking someone more pliable in that position. She took one for the team and has since moved on unscathed.

With the Andrew Holness administration coming under pressure and the JLP facing a resurgent PNP, there may be moves afoot to shuffle the Cabinet before the next general election.

It would be unwise to remove Kamina Johnson Smith from her present position. She is a fragrant flower totally unsuited for the mud-caked topsoil of Jamaican politics. She operates best from the Senate.

Observing her over recent years, she always seems prepared and masters her brief, doing so with great equanimity.

On Thursday night, at the residence of Ambassador Angie Martinez of the Dominican Republic, she spoke articulately able to switch to Spanish and convey that Jamaica and the Dominican Republic share a deep abiding friendship – all with a pleasant disposition.

Kamina Johnson Smith is the consummate foreign minister whose diplomacy skills are evident. Her father Anthony Johnson, a former Jamaican ambassador to the United States and a high commissioner to the UK would be immensely proud. Anthony Johnson authored many books, was a prolific writer of articles in the press, an economist and university lecturer. He was a man for all seasons, Jamaica’s very own Sir Thomas Moore. She observed and learnt from him.

The minister of foreign affairs is very loyal to the prime minister and is a patriot. She is a proud ambassador of her country and represents it very well. Kamina Johnson Smith does not commit faux pax, she doesn’t put her foot in her mouth, she is not gaffe-prone. Her emotions do not get the better of her.

Of all the personalities operating in the murky waters of Jamaican politics, she remains unsullied. She has not been embroiled in the contretemps that have besmirched so many senior members of her government and party. Her elegant shoes do not step in the brown stuff.

Is she the Caribbean’s twenty-first-century Talleyrand? Time will tell. ‘Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade’ is one of the most prestigious offices of state calling for prudence and comportment.

Here background and upbringing carry weight here and served her well with the position she holds. Don’t be beguiled by that smiling face and sunny side of life manner. She is a highly accomplished woman, once serving as legal counsel for Cable & Wireless, forming her own legal practice, playing an instrumental role behind the scenes to get the Holness administration into power.

One would be hard-pressed to envisage Kamina Johnson Smith walking into the almighty mess that state minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Alando Terrelonge now finds himself in.

Terrelonge shared photo highlights from his visit to the Jamaica High Commission in London for the UK launch of the 10th Jamaica Diaspora Conference. In the highlights, the faces of former prime ministers, Portia Simpson Miller and PJ Pattison were covered with the Jamaican flag emoji.

This was crass and demonstrated political tribalism and partisanship in all too familiar ways in Jamaica. Terrolonge is bright and shows promise but he literally showed his colours here. This was inexperience, a clear lack of how to operate at this level. It was most unbecoming and not a situation Kamina Johnson Smith would find herself in.

Terrlonge has since walked it back, writing,” The stories posted are indeed regretted and as stated do not reflect my approach over the years. I was advised of stories posted by one of my team members with access to my social media, not in keeping with my style of posting.

“He was instructed to remove all stories posted to the account immediately, and I have since removed him from access to all my social media accounts.”

Well advised, Alando Terrlonge but as a senior operative in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, you have to be vigilant about who comprises your team and the people you associate with. It was incredibly naive to have some ingenue post to your social media media accounts without your approval and sign-off.

It doesn’t matter what degrees you have or commendations you receive, if you don’t have refinement, discretion, comportment, if these qualities don’t come naturally to you, sooner or later your true self will reveal itself. As the late Rex Nettleford once quipped, “A buttu in a Benz is still a buttu.”

If Jamaica truly has aspirations to be a player on the world stage, it will need people like Kamina Johnson Smith who knows how to conduct herself and remain dignified at all times.