DEPUTY Public Defender Matondo Mukulu is resigning from the position and is expected to exit the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) at the end of the month.

In a letter to Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry on Tuesday, Mukulu — a Jamaican-born attorney who acted as public defender between April 2014 and January this year — said that he has decided that his contribution to the process is done, and informed her that he will be returning to his private practice.

In his resignation letter to Harrison Henry, who edged him out for appointment as public defender by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen in January, Mukulu said that he is satisfied that the work of the OPD is in good hands.

A public law specialist, Mukulu was appointed to act as public defender after the retirement of Queen’s Counsel Earl Witter, at the appointed age of 70.

Despite a controversy which raged around the replacement of Witter by veteran attorney Harrison Henry instead of the youthful and exuberant Mukulu who was highly praised by the public for his proactive approach, the outgoing deputy public defender showed no anger in his resignation letter to her.

“I have witnessed the professional manner in which you have been pursuing the current (West Kingston) Commission of Enquiry, and I must commend you for sticking to the task, as it is clear to me that this is a task that requires one who is as constant as the Northern Star,” Mukulu wrote.

“Of course, in the honeymoon period, I had cautioned you against the suction impact of this project, but you have sensibly taken the view that suction or not, the work will be done and in time I trust that the nation will be the better off for your approach,” he added.

“At this stage, I have decided that my contribution to the process must end. I am extremely appreciative of the opportunity that was given to me by the people of our country to serve them at this most important institution. I was driven by my passion to change things as I have always occupied the reformist camp in opposition to those whose only purpose is to maintain crippling status quo,” he stated.

“I will now return to my practice of public law, satisfied that the work of the institution will continue, as no one individual (including myself) has all the answers to the many challenges and you, like most of us in this country, want to have a Jamaica where the respect for rights are central to the active democracy that we practise,” he stated.