MP Franklin Khan: RIP

Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Franklin Khan left his life the way he lived it, quietly and without undue fuss, according to reports of his passing at his home on Saturday morning.

Mr Khan, 63, leaves to mourn his wife Laura and two children.

His death followed years of medical challenges, the extent of which were largely kept private. That he could proceed with his life and career by gently brushing aside queries about his health had less to do with his professional standing and career as a politician than his personal approach to public office.

Always ready with a cheery, often cherubic smile and a retiring attitude to his public office, Franklin Khan managed, across a 20-year career in office, to be both present and largely unnoticed in his work.

Mr Khan was a petroleum geologist by profession. He studied for a BSc in geology and geography at UWI (Mona) in 1980 and an MBA from the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business in 2007. He spent 20 years in the energy sector as a private individual.

He served twice as president of the Geological Society of TT (1982, 1995), as a director of WASA between 1986 and 1990, and chaired the National Petroleum Marketing company between 2001 and 2002.

Born in the village of Guayaguayare, he entered representative politics formally in 2002 and served as Minister of Works and Transport until 2005, when he stepped down to face a corruption charge.

The case against Mr Khan, who had been accused by Dansam Dhansook of accepting bribes, collapsed when his accuser confessed to lying after the politician refused to help his company with a business matter. The accusations ended the political career of his co-accused former energy minister Eric Williams, who never returned to politics.

But Mr Khan served as chairman of the PNM between 2002 and 2005, and again between 2010 and 2018.

In 2015, he was appointed to the Senate and served as Minister of Rural Development and Local Government. He was appointed Energy Minister in 2016, holding portfolio until his death.

In a political landscape hallmarked by grandstanding, fractiousness and acrimony, Mr Khan's calm aura of humility, unfailing politeness and focus on service made up a rare take, in these times, on public office.

If, despite the importance of his portfolio in an economy such as this country’s, there were few headlines marking his career, that was largely the consequence of his focus on being the "good and faithful servant" for which he will be remembered.