Former Junior Public Health Minister, Dr Karen Cummings has taken up the position of Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Dr Cummings will be replacing Carl Greenidge, who had to resign from that position owing to his foreign citizenship, which bars him from being a Member of the National Assembly.
She took her oath of office Thursday morning before President David Granger at the Ministry of the Presidency.
Foreign Affairs Minister and Second Vice President, Greenidge; Minister of State, Joseph Harmon; Public Service Minister, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, and Business Minister Dominic Gaskin were forced to tender their resignations following a ruling in the High Court that dual citizens are not eligible to be members of Parliament.
As a result of that development, President Granger, who has lauded the work of the four ministers during their time in office, last Thursday announced some reshuffling which has seen the transfer of some ministers and the appointment of new ones.
These changes saw controversial ministers Valerie Adams-Yearwood and Simona Charles-Broomes being removed from their previous ministries. Minister Adams-Yearwood has been replaced by Junior Minister Annette Ferguson, who has been removed from the Public Infrastructure Ministry and placed at the Communities Ministry as Housing Minister.
Adams-Yearwood is now a Junior Minister within the Agriculture Ministry, with responsibility for Rural Affairs. Meanwhile, Junior Minister Broomes has been removed from the Natural Resources Ministry and placed at the Ministry of the Presidency with responsibility for Youth Affairs.
In addition, the Head of State had announced that Alliance For Change (AFC) Member of Parliament Haimraj Rajkumar will now be the Business Minister; Dawn Hastings-Williams the Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency; and Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Chairperson Tabitha Sarabo-Halley the Public Service Minister within the Ministry of the Presidency.
