Trinidad and Tobago’s national security minister, Jack Warner, resigned from the cabinet on Sunday.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar returned to the country from the US on Saturday night to a damning report by the ethics panel of the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF), which labeled 70-year-old Warner “a white collar thief”.
In a media release on Sunday, Kamla Persad- Bissessar announced that she had officially accepted Warner’s resignation as national security minister.
“I have today accepted the offer of resignation of the Minister of National Security, Mr Jack Warner from the Cabinet of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. I wish to thank Mr Warner for his service to the government and people of Trinidad and Tobago,” Persad- Bissessar said.
She said that she had advised President Anthony Carmona to revoke Warner’s appointment and to appoint Senator Emmanuel George as minister of national security.
The prime minister also advised the president to assign the portfolio of works and infrastructure to Dr Suruj Rambachan in addition to his existing portfolio.
Warner has been surrounded by bribery allegations for more than 20 years but he has repeatedly dismissed the various accusations against him and denied any wrongdoing.
He resigned as CONCACAF president in June 2011 after being accused of attempting to bribe Caribbean delegates with $40,000 each to vote for Mohamed bin Hammam, then-Asian confederation head, in the election for president of FIFA. Warner also gave up his position on FIFA’s executive committee, thus avoiding investigation into the bribery allegations tied to the FIFA presidential election.
