Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell Tuesday gave up the portfolio of Minister of Finance in a minor Cabinet re-shuffle that resulted in him adding the Ministry of Public Utilities to his workload.
Mitchell, who led the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to office in June last year, said that the decision to reassign the ministerial portfolio of Finance is to allow him to get the opportunity to cross-learn and cross-train in different government ministries.
Mitchell told a news conference that Dennis Cornwall, the incumbent Minister for Infrastructure and Physical Development, Public Utilities and Civil Aviation and Transportation has become the new Minister for Finance.
He said Cornwall is a former public servant, who served in the Ministry of Finance.
“So he certainly has the experience and expertise to competently manage together with the senior members in the Ministry of Finance,” Mitchell told reporters, describing the minor cabinet re-shuffle as “the reassigning” of a ministerial portfolio.
He said the move is aimed at giving him more experience in the public service system because his only experience is working for two years as a teacher in a secondary school more than two decades ago.
“I have never worked in the public service and prior to getting involved in politics I have never worked for the government saved for the two years I taught at Presentations Brothers College. As Prime Minister it is important for me to be able to get the opportunity to cross-learn and cross-train across different ministries,” Mitchell said.
Referring specifically to the Ministry of Public Utilities, which will now be under his portfolio, the Prime Minister said it is a vast ministry with several statutory bodies delivering a number of services.
“From energy to water to postal services to roads to government maintenance etc and so as that learning process it is important for me as well, I thought it will be important to give myself an opportunity as well to be able to learn and to manage some or other ministries and public utilities is one I selected for that purpose,” he said.