Kareem Musa’s Big Switch from Home Affairs to Immigration

Kareem Musa is out of Home Affairs and now heading Immigration, Labor, and Governance. And that move has gotten everyone talking. Is this a reward for his work, or a quiet indictment? Some are even wondering if the Joseph Budna investigation played a role. Critics call it a demotion, but Musa says otherwise, he insists this is a promotion, pointing to the complexity and weight of his new portfolio. So, what’s really behind the switch?

 

Kareem Musa, Minister of Immigration

“I look forward to this new role, the Ministry of Immigration, Labor, and Governance. I look forward to it with great optimism. I know that it is a lot of challenges over at the immigration ministry, labor has its challenges as well and of course the redistricting process that comes with governance. So, all of them the prime minister said he will need my assistance, primarily because of my legal background for us to navigate the way forward in these three important ministries. So I look forward to it as a promotion.”

 

Reporter

“So why didn’t he assign this portfolio to you in March?”

 

Kareem Musa

“That again, when you are looking to reconfigure your Cabinet as the prime minister did in March, I think he found I was doing an excellent job in the Ministry of Home Affairs and he decided to leave me there.”

 

Reporter

“Do you believe that you are being indirectly blamed for the kidnapping of Mr Budna?”

 

Kareem Musa

“Absolutely not, I think everyone knows, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, Belize knows I have absolutely nothing to do with that. So I don’t see how I  can be blamed for that?”

 

Reporter

“She said he file has less than nothing.”

 

Kareem Musa

“That is a matter of perspective, because based on what I heard in Cabinet, obviously there is video footage, statements from several officers that she can go back and reinterview. I would not say it is less than nothing. But that is a matter of perspective.’