KINGSTON, Jamaica – Former journalist Abka Fitz-Henley and financial executive Dr Dana Morris Dixon took their seats in the Senate for the first time on Friday.

The two Government senators were sworn-in following Thursday’s announcement of the appointments by Prime Minister Andrew Holness in what he said was “part of a broader reorganisation, refresh and revitalisation” of his administration.

Welcoming Fitz-Henley and Morris Dixon, senate president Tom Tavares Finson said, “We trust that the manner in which you have carried out your allotted task elsewhere in the private sector, and the manner in which you have approached your various professions, we trust that that enthusiasm and competence will be brought into this chamber, to the benefit of this Jamaica land we love”.

They replace senators Natalie Campbell-Rodriques and former state minister Leslie Campbell, who resigned from the Upper House.

Holness said the outgoing senators will continue to give valuable service in other roles which will be announced soon. He also thanked them for their “impeccable service” to the country.

The announced resignations confirmed news emerging in recent weeks that the Prime Minister wanted to make room to reshuffle the executive. Fitz-Henley’s social media posts, for the most part, have over time supported the administration’s position on a range of issues and policies.

As an award-winning journalist, Fitz-Henley honed his craft at Nationwide News Network (NNN) and was named Journalist of the Year by the Press Association of Jamaica, in 2016. He left NNN in January 2022, where he had been co-hosting the current affairs morning show, Nationwide This Morning.

Dr Morris Dixon is a 2004 Fulbright Scholar and an alumnus of the University of the West Indies (UWI). She is also a graduate of Josef Korbel School of International Studies where she completed a PhD in International Studies, as well as Harvard Business School’s executive programme.

She has served as a senior executive of Jamaica National Group and managing director of JN General Insurance Limited and executed numerous large-scale strategic projects, including the launch of the first Caribbean bank to be authorised in the United Kingdom in 2020, and the reorganisation of the Jamaica National Group that created JN Bank and the new group structure in 2017.