The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II.

Portia Simpson Miller,  Prime Minister of Jamaica (since Jan 6, 2012)

Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica

Portia Simpson Miller was born in Wood Hall, St. Catherine and attended the Marlie Hill Primary School , St. Martin’s High School and the Union Institute, Miami Florida where she read for a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration. While completing her degree she also completed a Diploma in Computing, Programming and Public Relations.

ACHIEVEMENTS

* Elected President of the People’s National Party on February 25th, 2006 and Prime Minister designate
* Minister of Local Government, Community Development & Sport
* Former Minister of Tourism and Sport with responsibilities for Entertainment & Gender Issues
* Acted in the capacity of Prime Minister on several occasions
* Vice President of the People’s National Party since 1978
* Participated in First Eleanor Roosevelt Caucus of Women Political Leaders
* Participated in “Women in Leadership Conference” at the John F. Kennedy School , Harvard University , in 1997
* Recipient of the Certificate for completion of the Executive Programme for Leaders in Development at the above institution in 1999
* Holder of a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Administration from Union Institute in Miami , Certificates in Public Relations, Advanced Management
* Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the Union Institute
* An advocate for the poor, the dispossessed, the oppressed and all those who remain voiceless and faceless in the corridors of power
* Holds a steadfast vision for development and change in the Jamaican Society

“It is often said that – “ while the nation sleeps, she works.”

PROFESSION

In her business career she has worked in various positions as Secretary and in the Social Service Field

POSITIONS HELD IN GOVERNMENT

* October 2002 – present, Minister of Local Government and Sport
* Feb. 21, 2000 – 2002 Minister of Tourism & Sports
* 1995 – Feb. 20, 2000 Minister of Labour, Social Security & Sports
* 1993 – 1995 Minister of Labour & Welfare
* 1989 – 1993 Minister of Labour,Welfare and Sports
* 1983 – 1989 PNP’s Spokesperson on Women’s affairs, Pension, Social Security and Consumer Affairs
* Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister
* Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government
* Member of Parliament for South West St. Andrew since 1989
* Councillor of the KSAC in 1974 & 1976
* Sits on the Executive Council and the National Executive Council for the Party
* Active and leading Member of the PNP

Portia Simpson Miller was born in Wood Hall, St. Catherine and attended the Marlie Hill Primary School , St. Martin’s High School and the Union Institute, Miami Florida where she read for a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration. While completing her degree she also completed a Diploma in Computing, Programming and Public Relations.

ACHIEVEMENTS

“It is often said that – “ while the nation sleeps, she works.”

PROFESSION

In her business career she has worked in various positions as Secretary and in the Social Service Field

POSITIONS HELD IN GOVERNMENT

Andrew Holness, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica

Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica

Mr. Holness was born on July 22nd, 1972. He attended St. Catherine High and later graduated from the University of the West Indies.

Mr. Holness served as Executive Director in the Voluntary Organization for Uplifting Children from 1994 to 1996. Then he joined the Premium Group of Companies and functioned as a special assistant to Most. Hon. Edward Seaga. In 1997 he became Member of Parliament for West Central St. Andrew and served as Opposition Spokesperson on Land and Development from 1999 to 2002. In 2002 he switched portfolio to Housing and then Education in 2005. He was sworn in as Minister of the same in September 2007.

On October 23, 2011, the Honorable Andrew Holness was sworn in as Jamaica’s 9th Prime Minister.

Andrew Holness  is married to Juliette Holness and has two children.

Bruce Golding, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica (resigned on Oct 23, 2011)

Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica

The 1962 Constitution established a parliamentary system based on the United Kingdom model. As chief of state, Queen Elizabeth II appoints a governor general, on the advice of the prime minister, as her representative in Jamaica. The governor general’s role is largely ceremonial. Executive power is vested in the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister.

Bruce Golding is the son of teachers Tacius and Enid Golding. He was born on December 5, 1947 in Clarendon at the home of his godmother, Mrs. Winnifred Stuart (the mother of Mrs. Percival Broderick). At the age of five, he started attending the Watermount Elementary School two years ahead of enrolment age. In January 1954, he attended the Skibo Elementary School, where his aunt was a teacher and her husband, the Headmaster. He relocated to St. Faiths in June 1954 where he attended the Macca Tree Elementary before finally settling at Alpha Primary in 1955 in Kingston.

He spent three years at Alpha before sitting and passing his Common Entrance. However, as he was still too young to be awarded a free space, he challenged the Ministry of Education’s decision and took his plight to St. George’s College. Then headmaster Fr. Edward Donahue overheard and facilitated on the grounds that his parents were willing to pay his tuition. He spent five years at St. George’s College and was successful at the Cambridge examinations in 1962. He transferred to Jamaica College in 1967 to pursue A’ Levels. It was during this time he met fellow schoolboy Dr. Peter Phillips who was later to become a political rival. He later went on to graduate from the University of the West Indies in 1969 with a B.Sc. in Economics.

Mr. Golding’s father, Tacius Golding, was the first Speaker of the House in independent Jamaica. Bruce would accompany his father to many political events and as such, he developed a keen interest in politics from an early age. In fact, when his father was about to loose his seat in the 1967 elections, he suspended his studies and took charge of the campaign, thus enabling a decisive win for the Jamaica Labour Party.

This landed Mr. Golding his first political appointment as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Lotteries Commission in 1968 by then Minister of Finance, the Honourable Edward Seaga. He was also elected Vice Chairman of the JLP Constituency Executive for West St. Catherine in that year. He was still a university student at this time. After graduating in 1969 at the age of 21, Mr. Golding was elected Candidate for West St. Catherine and won the seat decisively in the same year. He then went on to co-found Young Jamaica in 1970, which was the party’s youth arm.

Mr. Golding was appointed a member of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Jamaica in 1972. He was then elected General Secretary of the party by Mr. Seaga in 1974. After his defeat in West St. Catherine in 1976 general election, he decided to withdraw from representational politics to focus on being General Secretary of the JLP and was later appointed to the Senate. He was a key figure in coordinating the JLP’s organization and campaign for the 1980 election in which the party was victorious.

Following the success of the JLP, Mr. Golding was re-appointment to the senate as Minister of Construction. During his tenure:

• The construction sector grew by 43% after a 68% decline under the previous administration.
• 25,000 new housing units were built.
• The National Shelter Sector strategy was adopted by the United Nations as a model for several developing countries.
• Rent restriction laws were reformed, thus facilitating new construction and tenant protection.
• Major road improvement programmes were developed.
• Legislation was adopted to provide professional registration for architects and engineers.

Mr. Golding returned to politics in 1983 as Member of Parliament for what is now Central St. Catherine. He was re-elected twice in 1989 and 1993. He was appointed Chairman of the JLP in 1984 and served as acting Prime Minister on a number of occasions. After the JLP’s 1989 electoral defeat, Mr. Golding was appointed Shadow Minister of Finance and chairman of the Public Accounts committee, exposing a number of scandals in the wake of his tenure in this position.

In the early 90’s, Mr. Golding expressed deep dissatisfaction with the country’s non-progressive political culture and campaigned for substantive change. Even though he had public support, the JLP failed to embrace his ideas. Thus he moved to create a new political party, the National Democratic Movement, of which he was elected as first president. However, as the party failed to make a substantive electoral representation in 1997 and 2001, he subsequently resigned as Party President. Mr. Golding went on to host a radio talk show programme “Disclosure” which gained considerable popularity on Hot102 FM.

Shortly after the 2002 elections were announced, Mr. Golding rejoined the JLP under a memorandum of understanding which ensured that the following issues would be addressed:

• Re-examination of the issue on separation of powers.
• Eliminating political tribalism and garrison politics.
• Establishing a public prosecutor for corrupt officials.
• Financing constituencies from the annual budget.
• All oversight committees are chaired by the opposition.
• Opposition leader having equal statement rights.
• Re-examining term limits and fixed election dates.

The party’s notably encouraging performance in that election was largely attributed to Mr. Golding’s return. He was subsequently appointed as Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and unopposed Chairman of the JLP in February 2005. In April of the same year, Mr. Golding was elected member of Parliament for West Kingston and assumed leadership of the opposition. Two years later, he led the JLP to a decisive victory in the September elections in 2007 and was sworn in as Jamaica’s eighth Prime Minister the following week.

Orette Bruce Golding and his wife Lorna have been married for over 32 years. They have three children; Steven, Sherene and Ann-Merita.

Honorable Patrick Allen, Governor-General of Jamaica

Honorable Patrick Allen, Governor-General of Jamaica

Dr. Patrick Linton Allen was born on 7th February 1951, in the farming community of Fruitful Vale, Portland, the fourth of five children of Ferdinand Allen and his wife, Christiana (nee Grant).

He attended the Fruitful Vale All-Age School and after successfully completing his Jamaica School Certificate Examination, and subsequently GCE examinations by private study, he joined the staff of the school as a pre-trained teacher at the age of 17. In 1970, he enrolled in the Moneague Teachers’ College. Following his graduation, he taught at Water Valley All-Age School in St. Mary for four years before being appointed Principal of the Robin’s Bay All-Age School in the same parish in 1976. In 1979, he became Principal of the Hillside Primary School, also in St. Mary, which had an enrollment four times the size of Robin’s Bay All-Age School.

A devout Seventh-day Adventist, Dr. Allen felt the urge from as early as age 11 to serve God as a full-time pastor, a call which he consistently resisted to pursue a teaching career. In 1983, he found that he could no longer resist this calling and he entered Andrews University in Michigan where he obtained the Bachelor’s degree in History and Religion before pursuing the Master’s degree in Systematic Theology.

Dr. Allen returned to Jamaica in 1986 and was employed as a Pastoral Intern and subsequently District Pastor. He has pastored many churches in St. Catherine and Clarendon. He was formally ordained as a Seventh-day Adventist pastor in 1989.

In 1993, Dr. Allen returned to Andrews University to read for his Doctorate, and in 1998 he was awarded the PhD in Educational Administration and Supervision. During that period, he also worked as Assistant Registrar of Andrews University. Upon his return to Jamaica in 1998, he was elected President of Central Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists with administrative responsibility for oversight of the churches in the parishes of St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Mary, and St. Ann. In 2000, he was elected President of the West Indies Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists with overall responsibility for the Seventh-day Adventist Churches and related organisations in Jamaica, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Cayman Islands. He was re-elected President in 2005.

As President of the Union, he chaired the Union’s Executive Committee made up of 62 church leaders. He also chaired the Boards of:

• Northern Caribbean University
• Andrews Memorial Hospital
• Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)
• Book and Nutrition Centre Limited
• West Indies Union Investment Management
Limited (IML)

Dr. Allen adopted a strategic approach to the development of the Union. After completing the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, the Union, under his leadership, identified and adopted the strategic issues to encourage growth and consolidation, unity, healthy lifestyle, education, and the Church in the community. Consequently, the membership increased by over 100,000. Three new Missions were created, and two Missions upgraded to Conference status. Extensive growth and development were also achieved at Northern Caribbean University and Andrews Memorial Hospital, as well as other structural and innovative improvements in the administration and services of the Union.

He gave oversight to the network of Adventist-administered educational institutions in the four countries, which comprised 10 high schools, 22 primary schools and numerous basic schools. He demitted these positions on January 28, 2009 in preparation for his installation as Governor-General of Jamaica.

Dr. Allen also served as a member of the Police Civilian Oversight Authority, the Strategic Review Implementation Oversight Committee for the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and is a former Member of the Board of the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica. He also served as Vice-Chairman of the Bible Society of the West Indies. In 2003 he was appointed Justice of the Peace for the parish of Manchester.

The Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander was conferred on him in 2006.

Dr. Allen has been married for 33 years, and he and his wife, Denise Patricia (nee Beckford), are the proud parents of three children – Kurt, Candice and David. They have four grandchildren.

LINK: http://www.jis.gov.jm