Kieron Joseph Samaroo
Kieron Joseph Samaroo [1] is a Trinidadian born politician and talk show host.. He is the former chairman of the COP Youth Congress, which is the national youth branch of the Congress of the People[1](COP), a political party in Trinidad and Tobago founded by economist and current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Dookeran.[2] The COP is currently within a coalition government called the People's Partnership[3] and is led by Prakash Ramadhar, current Minister of Legal Affairs in the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
Family and early life
Samaroo was born on 6 December 1987. He spent his early life in San Juan in Trinidad. Kieron's father and mother both attended the Wesleyan church in San Juan, and Samaroo spent most of his early life and brought up in a protestant or evangelical Christian home in a family with Hindu, Muslim and Roman Catholic influences.
In 1998, his father relocated the family to Arouca. Samaroo has one sibling.
Education
After completing elementary schooling at the Rosary Boys' Roman Catholic School in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Samaroo attended Fatima College, in Port of Spain. This school is nationally prominent due to its scholastic and sporting achievements, and prestigious history. Its former principal, Fr. Anthony Pantin, served as Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Port of Spain. He subsequently attended Queen's Royal College, one of the first and most distinguished secondary schools in Trinidad, and pursued Advanced 'A' Level certificates there.
In 2007, Samaroo enrolled into the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad, to pursue studies in economics. Subsequently, he switched majors to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in political sciences.
Political life
That same year, Samaroo joined the Congress of the People. Shortly thereafter, he began speaking on public platforms and media interviews on the COP's philosophy of 'New Politics'. In that election, The one-year-old COP got 148,041 votes, 22 per cent of the votes cast. However, the COP won no seats in the parliament. This was considered as a substantial dent to the traditional, entrenched election demographic in Trinidad and Tobago, in which the 42 year old incumbent People's National Movement got 299,813 votes and the 20 year old United National Congress got 194,425 votes.
In the following year, 2008, in the COP's internal elections, Samaroo was elected Chairman of the COP Youth Congress. This is the arm of the Congress of the People that deals with youth and youth affairs.
In that same year, the COP Youth Congress participated in the National Youth Elections programme held by the Ministry of Youth Affairs. It contested the constituency of St. Augustine with Samaroo as the candidate. The Youth Congress was successful, and Samaroo was elected to the National Youth Assembly and served as assemblyman for St. Augustine for the term of one year.
Samaroo's Chairmanship to the COP Youth Congress made him an automatic member of the National Executive of the COP- the leadership committee which executes the political affairs and strategies of the COP. He is the youngest member of the National Executive.
In his capacity as a National Executive member, Samaroo held various responsibilities. He was responsible for the planning of the COP's annual National Assembly in 2009. He served on the committee which screened and selected candidates for the General elections and the Local Government elections of 2010. He is also a member of the party's strategy committee.
In September 2010, Samaroo was elected to a second term as chairman of the Youth Congress.
Media involvement
From October 2010 to November 2012, Samaroo co-hosted Rapidfire, a talk show focused on current affairs on WINTV, a Trinidad-based network spanning other Caribbean countries and Canada. The show was co-hosted by Trinidadian attorney and political and social activist Kevin Ratiram.
In December 2013, Samaroo was invited to co-host "The Morning Panchayat", a radio talk show focusing on current affairs and politics on Trinidadian station Aakash Vani 106.5FM.[4] which is part of Caribbean media conglomerate, Guardian Media Ltd. Samaroo currently co-hosts "The Morning Panchayat with Carol Cuffy-Dowlat, an attorney and former senator, and Satesh Mahabir, a local media personality.