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Revered businessman and lawyer Howard Mitchell was inducted into the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica’s (PSOJ) Hall of Fame last week at a banquet held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.

Mitchell’s observations on Jamaica during his acceptance speech  have garnered plenty of attention. If only Jamaica would heed it, the country would be placed on a better trajectory.

CEO of Seprod, Richard Pandohie is one of the country’s best business leaders and cares passionately about Jamaica’s progress. It was fitting that he made the introductory speech and listed Howard’s long list of accomplishments in service to both the private and public sector. If only Jamaica had more leaders of the calibre of Howard Mitchell.

Below is Richard Pandohie’s full address: 

It was approximately 1:25 am on a rainy Sunday morning at the Hargreaves Hospital in Mandeville, when Iris Mitchell was making the last push to complete the problematic delivery of her second son. His head was rather large, and he was adorable in a way only a mother could appreciate but as he entered the world kicking and screaming, I truly wondered what Iris and Leslie would have said if they knew their newborn son, Howard Samuel Mitchell, was going to leave an indelible mark on Jamaica.

A visionary, a nationalist, a “just get it done” man, a provocateur; Howard has left his mark on Jamaica’s public and private sectors, and most importantly he has been a voice for the everyday man and woman. He has served with brilliance and generosity of spirit, requiring no fanfare.

Like a champion bull, he is from good stock. His paternal grandfather was a 6’4’’ strapping Maroon from the hills of Portland. Grand-dad had the ferry license to move people across the Rio Grande before the bridge was built and from a start of nothing, he ended up owning 100 acres of banana land.

Howard’s dad was a produce inspector for the agricultural marketing entity in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and so had to travel all over the country to inspect produce leaving and coming into Jamaica. It was on one of these excursions that he met Iris, who was of Scottish descent in the distance hills of Catadupa, St.James. Howard, nicknamed Samson by his parents, lived all over Jamaica but eventually settled in Kingston when he started school at his beloved St. Georges College. He was a strong academic student and an allrounder, participating in the sports and arts. In sports, he acquitted himself respectfully as an off spin bowler and middle order batsman in the Sunlight Cup competition. There was also the theatre, with Howard playing the role of principled man of conscience, Sir Thomas More in the classic play, A Man For All Seasons, perhaps a foreshadowing of his later illustrious career. One of his bonafide brethren at STGC was Dr.Aggrey Irons of Bellevue hospital fame; perhaps another foreshadowing.

With high school education completed, young Howard had his heart set on becoming a Vet. His father, being “old school” insisted that his son studied law; and the youngster entered UWI in 1969 and started on the path of doing his father’s bidding plus a BSc in Government Studies. At that time, to become a lawyer, one had to apprentice to a practising attorney and then do the British exam, which he completed in 1975.

The newly minted attorney worked at Citibank before attaining a Masters in international trade law (from the

University of Miami), and then on to bauxite producer Alpart. He also served as a partner at Clinton Hart & Co., specialising in Taxation, Mining, and commercial/Banking Law.

Not too long after, Howard got what he described as the most exciting professional challenge of his life and the one that really “buss” him. The Jamaica Lottery Company (JLC) was in a crisis and on the brink of ruin. At the behest of Howard Hamilton, Howard Mitchell was brought in as Executive Chairman and he along with Leighton McKnight and Paul Salteur & Eugene Fflokes set on a decade-long endeavour fraught with complexity and challenges but they were up to the task; they turned around the business and eventually sold it to then competitor Supreme Ventures Limited. Important to note, from the JLC, came the funding for the Sports Development Foundation which was the forerunner of the CHASE fund. Howie, beams with pride when he tells you that the SDF was the major funder for the Reggae Boyz and had a huge impact on funding for multiple sporting disciplines.

His performance in that crisis scenario brought him to the attention of public officials, and he a became a highly sought after director or chairman of several public boards. In fact, between 2007 and 2014, Howard served on as many as 14 statutory boards representing industries ranging from the national housing trust, to sports development foundation, to mining and to agriculture.

To those assignments, he gave the same level of energy, dedication and insight that he had given in his corporate positions, but he concedes that his effectiveness in those capacities was limited by what can euphemistically be described as “inherent structural deficiencies”.

In his private sector life, Howard has built a stellar resume as a corporate leader, investor, and entrepreneur. He had a successful Commercial Law Practice for 35 years until he retired. This lawyer then decided he wanted to take up manufacturing, a move he said that brought on a lot of stress but he did well; He headed up Corrpak, the country’s largest corrugated paper packaging plant, before successfully selling that interest (cah-ching), as well as AJAS Limited, the largest aviation services company in the English-speaking Caribbean.

His success with turning around the latter attracted the attention of the world leader in the field, which acquired a majority stake in AJAS (more chi ching). Caribbean Flavours and Fragrances, Island Grill and Cari- Med, have also benefited from Howard Mitchell’s expertise and experience. Island Grill founder Thalia Lyn said that Howard was integral in the expansion of Island Grill and brought a winning combination of great knowledge and a down-to-earth nature that really endeared him to the team.

In 2017, he was awarded the Order of Distinction (Commander Class) for outstanding service to Business and the Public Sector.

But Howard wasn’t ready to rest on that accolade. During this period, he faced one of his greatest personal challenges. It would have been understandable if he had decided to step aside and focus on himself but instead, he took on the mantle

of Head of the PSOJ from 2017 to 2019. Key highlights during his tenure include establishing, the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP), a non-partisan, non-profit organisation, dedicated to fostering more engaged citizens and improving public accountability. Another highlight was the launch of the Crime Management Initiative, which gave rise to the National Public Order and Safety Summit and evolved into the Crime Monitoring Oversight Committee (CMOC). He also set up the Gender and Disabilities Affairs Committee of the PSOJ, with the theme of “Progress towards an inclusive Jamaican workforce.”

A man for all seasons; yet not even he could have anticipated that he would find himself in the center of an unprecedented moment in Jamaica’s history. As Chairman of the National Health Fund (NHF) when Jamaica, along with the rest of the world, was in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mitchell’s leadership was integral to Jamaica’s COVID vaccine programme; he and the dedicated team at the NHF had to scale numerous hurdles and perform all kind of gymnastics that ultimately played a pivotal role in Jamaica’s resilience during those scary days.

A true philanthropist, he has served on the boards of St Patrick’s, Mustard Seed, and the Issa Trust Foundations.

Through all his highs and lows, Howard Mitchell has been anchored by his wife, Linda, of over 40 years. I asked Howard, ‘how come you never entered into representational politics?” He said he was approached on multiple occasions, but Linda would not allow it. By the way for persons who wonder about his political leaning; he has been a registered member of the PNP, a twice registered member of the JLP, a founding member of the NDM and when he was on UWI campus he was involved in the WPJ. What that says to me, is that Howard’s passion is about Jamaica and not about any political party.

His life has been a stroke filled exhibition of master class batting; tonight, he is celebrating a major milestone, but it is still too early to retreat to the pavilion. There are more runs left in the bat. He intends to focus all his energy on living; enjoying his family (his two daughters Errin and Kirsten and his two grandsons), enjoying his fishing, travelling, and provoking the status quo.

We salute your legacy Sir, you have walked amongst Kings and Queens but never lost the common touch and it is with great pride and delight that The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica inducts you, Howard Samuel Mitchell, an exemplar of Jamaican excellence, into The PSOJ Hall of Fame for 2023.