Kedesha Campbell Rochester appointed permanent secretary in Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and Transport

Kedesha Campbell Rochester, a former head of the Constituency Development Fund Management Unit has been appointed permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and Transport (METT).

A permanent secretary is the most senior, non-political civil servant in a government ministry or department, responsible for its day-to-day operations, implementing policies, among other things.

Campbell Rochester brings more than 15 years of leadership experience in governance, policy execution, and institutional reform, METT said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said she previously served as director of a major national development programme for over eight years, where she introduced advanced monitoring and evaluation systems and implemented results-based management practices.

Campbell Rochester career spans programme oversight, fiscal management, institutional strengthening, and cross-sector collaboration, making her well positioned to lead the Ministry’s strategic priorities. She replaces long-serving civil servant Carol Palmer.

Campbell Rochester holds a Master of Science in Project Management from the University of Salford and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from The University of the West Indies, Mona. She has also received advanced training in Corporate Governance and General Management.

She also also served as technical assistant to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness; executive assistant when Holness was education minister and executive administrator in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.

“I transfer skill sets that I would have learned and I pull from entities to help other ministries, departments and agencies in the public sector, so that we can operate in a simultaneous way rather than in siloes. When I’m implementing a project or system, [my aim] is to ensure a mistake or an error would not have been repeated because the knowledge… or the experience was not shared,” she told JIS news in 2024.

She was awarded the national honour of Order of Distinction (Commander) in 2024. A justice of the peace Campbell Rochester has served on several national boards, including Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, Urban Development Corporation and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, where she chaired sector committees contributing to Jamaica’s development agenda.

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