Jovenel Moïse

Jovenel Moïse was born in Trou-du-Nord in northeast Haiti into a middle-class family and studied political science at the Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince. Entering agribusiness, he founded Agritrans, an organic banana plantation project that earned him the moniker "Nèg Bannann nan" (the Banana Man). In 2015, outgoing President Michel Martelly handpicked him as the presidential candidate of the PHTK party.

Taking office in February 2017 after contested elections, Moïse promoted agricultural development, rural electrification, and infrastructure. However, his administration was crippled by mass protests over missing Petrocaribe funds, severe inflation, and surging gang violence. When legislative elections were postponed in 2019, he began ruling by presidential decree, igniting a fierce constitutional dispute over when his term ended. In the early morning of July 7, 2021, a group of armed foreign mercenaries stormed his private home, shooting him dead and critically injuring his wife Martine.