Jamaica Gleaner

August 31, 2026

Kirk Benjamin has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and Commissioner of Customs.

The Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) announced today that Benjamin’s appointment will become effective tomorrow, September 1.

Benjamin had been acting as Chief Executive Officer since April, in what the JCA said then followed a reference from the Office of the Services Commission and was “pending the completion of the recruitment process”.

Benjamin, who previously served as Senior Director for Central Operations, succeeds Velma Ricketts Walker, who demitted office in April after serving for a decade.

The JCA describes Benjamin as “a distinguished Customs and Tax Administration expert, with over 25 years’ experience in Customs modernisation, revenue enhancement, and international trade policy development”.

He holds a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management, postgraduate diplomas in Public Sector Management and Tax Audit & Revenue Administration, and a Diploma in Business Administration.

In his previous role, he was “responsible for shaping the operational and regulatory framework that governs cross-border trade, ensuring efficiency, transparency, and strong revenue performance while supporting national economic growth”.

The JCA also credits Benjamin with the modernisation of the Customs environment in Jamaica and improvements in its business model. It also says he was instrumental in shaping tax policy and legislative reform.

Source: Jamaica Gleaner, 31 August 2026. Republished for the Wolmer’s Trust community with attribution.

Kirk Benjamin is a Wolmerian and an active old boy of Wolmer’s Trust High School for Boys. A JIS caption of the 5 September 2014 groundbreaking for the Douglas Orane Auditorium names him as president of the Wolmer’s Old Boys Association.