KINGSTON, Jamaica — A senior ruling party official has launched a sharp rebuke of Jamaica’s main opposition party, accusing it of a pattern of bad-faith attacks against qualified public servants who agree to serve in key government roles.
Senator Abka Fitz-Henley, State Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, made the comments in response to recent questions from the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) over the appointment of Ambassador Antony Anderson as chief executive officer of the newly established National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA). The PNP’s public statement, released earlier this week, centered on whether Anderson completed the formal application process for the high-stakes post before Prime Minister Andrew Holness finalized his appointment Wednesday.
While the PNP acknowledged Anderson’s long record as a trusted technocrat with decades of experience in Jamaica’s military and policing sectors, the party said it held legitimate concerns about transparency and fairness in the NaRRA CEO recruitment and selection process.
Fitz-Henley pushed back against these claims in an official statement released Thursday, defending Anderson’s appointment and dismissing the PNP’s scrutiny as a regrettable and unfounded smear campaign. He emphasized that Anderson, a retired Major General, has a long track record of cross-partisan public service to Jamaica, including serving as chief of defence staff of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) during most of the previous PNP administration. The minister argued that the opposition’s attempt to cast doubt on Anderson’s ability to lead NaRRA is entirely unprofessional and unwarranted.
To further back up the appointment, Fitz-Henley outlined Anderson’s deep professional qualifications: he is a trained engineer who previously commanded the JDF Engineer Regiment before rising to lead the entire armed force. He also noted that the selection process was fully legitimate, pushing back against the PNP’s claims of irregularity. Per details shared by the prime minister, 85 candidates submitted formal applications for the role, which was eventually narrowed down to a shortlist of seven finalists. Anderson was the top candidate selected from that group, Fitz-Henley confirmed.
He also rejected any questions about the integrity of the selection panel, noting that its members are widely respected public figures with experience serving on similar panels across multiple government administrations. The panel included the cabinet secretary, chairman of the Port Authority of Jamaica, and chairman of the Public Services Commission, three senior institutional leaders with long records of public service.
Beyond the specifics of Anderson’s appointment, Fitz-Henley argued that the PNP’s criticism fits a broader pattern of the opposition unfairly targeting Jamaicans who take on critical public service roles under the current government. He cited a list of other public servants, including prosecutor Paula Llewelyn, Ambassador Rocky Meade, financial expert Kedesha Rochester, economist Professor Peter Blair Henry, and policy analyst Dennis Chung, all of whom he claimed were subjected to unfair opposition attacks in the past.