Jovenel Moïse is an entrepreneur and politician serving as the 42ndPresident of Haiti. Final official results had shown him as the winner of the November 2016 election. In 2019, political unrest and calls for his resignation became a crisis.
Early life and education
Jovenel Moïse was born in Trou-du-Nord, Nord-Est on June 26, 1968. In July 1974, his family moved to Port-au-Prince, where he continued his primary studies at Ecole Nationale Don Durélin, and followed up with his secondary studies first at Lycée Toussaint Louverture, and then at Centre Culturel du Collège Canado-Haïtien. Sciences de l’Education de l'Université Quisqueya and despite a planned future as an educator, he instead chose entrepreneurship. In 1996, he married his classmate Martine Marie Etienne Joseph. That same year, they left the capital and established in Port-de-Paix to develop rural areas.
Business career
With little investment capital, Moïse launched his first business in Port-de-Paix, JOMAR Auto Parts, still in operation today. That same year, he began development of an agricultural project of organic banana production from a plantation extending to over 25 acres of land in the Northwest department. In 2001, Moïse partnered with Culligan to start a drinking water plant for distribution to the Nord-Ouest and Northeast regions. In 2004, Moïse became a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Northwest. Soon after, he was elected president of CCINO. He later became secretary general of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haiti, where he helped with the integration and fair representation of the regional Chambers of Commerce within the national organization. In 2008, he helped found Compagnie Haïtienne d’Énergie S.A., a regional electric company aiming to bring solar and wind power to 10 communes in Nord-Ouest. In 2012, he founded AGRITRANS SA, introduced the agricultural project NOURRIBIO to Trou du Nord, and helped create Haiti's first agricultural free trade zone, a 2,500-acre banana plantation in Nord-Est. With this project, Moïse was able to successfully cultivate unfarmable land into a lush, integrated and sustainable project that is a model for development of Haiti’s agricultural sector. Through this project, Haiti was able to export organic bananas to Germany, for the first time since 1954. This led him to be nicknamed Nèg Bannann and to more than a dozen agricultural projects that created almost 3,000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs.
Political career
In 2015, President Michel Martelly designated Moïse as the presidential candidate of the political party Martelly founded, the Haitian Tèt Kale Party. In his campaign, Moïse promoted bio-ecological agriculture as an economic engine for Haiti, whose population is over 50% rural. He also expressed support for policies pursued by Martelly: universal education and health care, energy reform, rule of law, the creation of sustainable jobs, environmental protection, and development of Haiti as a destination for ecotourism and agritourism. Moïse received 32.8% of votes in the first round of the 2015 elections held on 15 October 2015, qualifying for a runoff with the second-place finisher, Jude Célestin. However, an exit poll conducted by the Haiti Sentinel showed Moïse receiving only 6% of the vote, and many observers called the results fraudulent. Thousands of people took to the streets in violent protest, forcing the postponement of the runoff election. On 27 November 2016, election officials said Moïse had won the 2016 election in the first round based on preliminary results, with an estimated voter turnout of 21%.
2015 and 2016 Haitian presidential elections
Note: Table abridged as there are too many candidates. See pdf for more candidates and their performances.
