Former long-serving Suriname Ambassador to Guyana, Manorma Soeknandan is the new Deputy Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.
She assumed duties at the CARICOM Secretariat on 1 February, 2014, a release from Caricom said today. She succeeds Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite.
Soeknandan served as resident Ambassador of Suriname to Guyana from 2001 to January 2013. She was accredited as Ambassador to CARICOM and to Jamaica in January 2002. During her tenure as resident Ambassador in Guyana, she became the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.
The release said that Soeknandan has extensive diplomatic experience in the international/Regional arena, with competencies in managing inter-state relations through diplomatic channels and negotiating cooperation arrangements between states and institutions.
The release said that Soeknandan holds a Bachelor of Laws decree (LL B.) from Anton de Kom University and worked for twenty-seven years as a lawyer with the Government of Suriname. She also served as head and manager of several departments with the Ministry of Justice and Police, including Manager of computerisation projects.
Soeknandan takes the number two position following an embarrassing turn of events after Canada-based Guyanese Naresh Singh had his appointment rescinded after it was publicized that he was the subject of an investigation in Canada.