Menissa Rambally (born 1976) is a

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

n politician who represented the

Castries Castries () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Saint Lucia, an island country in the Caribbean. The urban area has a population of approximately 20,000, while the eponymous Castries Quarter, district has a population of just under ...

South East constituency for the Saint Lucia Labour Party, until she was defeated in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

of 11 December 2006. She was appointed Permanent Representative for Saint Lucia to the United Nations in 2012. She was the Minister of Culture in the government of the Saint Lucia Labour Party. Rambally was the youngest candidate and the youngest MP in the country's history, entering parliament at 21 years of age. She is of Indian, African and European ancestry. She is a graduate of the Leon Hess Comprehensive School and a Business Graduate of Caribbean Union College, an affiliate of

Andrews University Andrews University (Andrews) is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flag ...

, Michigan.

Life

Menissa is the eldest daughter of Nelista and Hezekiah Rambally, with her sisters Pearl and Shameela. Menissa entered politics due to the untimely death of her father who had been selected as the St Lucia Labour Party candidate for the Castries Southeast constituency. Upon entering the race, she challenged the seat for the opposition. She would remain in power until the next election cycle which she won handily. The election of Rambally and Sarah Flood Beaubrun in 1997 and 2001, according to Cynthia Barrow-Giles, "transformed the St Lucia lower House of parliament from a virtual 'all boys camp' to a more gender integrated elected parliament". Rambally served in the Ministry of Agriculture as permanent secretary, minister of tourism, and, most recently, minister of social transformation. After her loss to Guy Joseph, she began working as a political consultant. She was appointed Permanent Representative for Saint Lucia to the United Nations in 2012. In December 2024 Ilana Seid led a delegation of Taiwan's allies to Taiwan. The delegation included Mutryce Williams of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Ambassador Tapugao Falefou from Tuvalu and , Rambally who was then Saint Lucia's Ambassador. Rambally is a member of the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...

References

1976 births Living people Members of the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia Government ministers of Saint Lucia Permanent representatives of Saint Lucia to the United Nations Saint Lucia Labour Party politicians Women government ministers of Saint Lucia Saint Lucian women diplomats Saint Lucian women ambassadors 20th-century Saint Lucian women politicians 20th-century Saint Lucian politicians 21st-century Saint Lucian women politicians 21st-century Saint Lucian politicians University of the Southern Caribbean alumni Saint Lucia Seventh-day Adventists {{SaintLucia-politician-stub