Michael Finnegan (Belizean politician)

Michael Kwame Finnegan (born Michael Myvett, c.1951)[1] is a Belizean politician and a member of the United Democratic Party. He served as Minister of Housing and Urban Development in Prime Minister Dean Barrow's cabinet. He was a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Mesopotamia Electoral Division in Belize City from 1993 to 2020. Finnegan hosts the television show Mek Wave and Lik Road.[2]

For other people named Michael Finnegan, see Michael Finnegan (disambiguation).
Michael Finnegan
Member of the Belize House of Representatives for Mesopotamia
In office
30 June 1993 – 11 November 2020
Preceded byCurl Thompson
Succeeded byMoses Barrow
Personal details
Born
Michael Myvett

c. 1951 (age 69–70)
British Honduras
(now Belize)
NationalityBelizean
Political partyUnited Democratic Party (1973–present)
United Black Association for Development (1970–1972)
ResidenceBelize City, Belize

Early life

Michael Myvett was born c.1951, and grew up in Belize City. He has one sister.

Political career

As a young activist in 1969, Michael Myvett protested the Vietnam War conducted by the United States, while affiliated with the Ad Hoc Committee for the Truth About Vietnam. This group was co-founded by Said Musa, a future Prime Minister. In 1970 Finnegan became a member of the United Black Association for Development. By late 1972 he had become estranged from UBAD president Evan X Hyde. During this period he changed his name to Michael Kwame Finnegan.

Finnegan then became a political protege of Dean Lindo, an early UDP leader. He was a founding member of the UDP in 1973. Finnegan already had a reputation as a gifted street campaigner. He worked as a UDP activist throughout the rest of the 1970s and 1980s.[1][3]

Finnegan was first elected to office in 1993, when he became a member of the Belize House of Representatives from the Mesopotamia constituency, a safe UDP seat in Belize City.[4] Finnegan was one of only two UDP House members re-elected in 1998 (Dean Barrow, current Prime Minister, was the other); they were two of three successful UDP candidates nationwide.[5] Until his 2020 retirement, Finnegan was re-elected with at least 60 percent of the vote in every ensuing election.

In the Belize House, Finnegan was noted for his lively, uncensored debate style as well as his liberal use of Belizean Creole.[6]

Finnegan declined to be a candidate in the 2020 Belizean general election. The UDP nominated his nephew, Shyne Barrow, to succeed him in the Mesopotamia constituency, which is widely considered a UDP safe seat.[7][8] Barrow was elected with 53% of the vote.[9]

Health

There had been speculation that an ailing Finnegan would stand down at the 2015 general election. In March 2015 Finnegan told Tropical Vision Limited that he was "worn" and considering retirement. However, in September 2015, Finnegan confirmed he was running for re-election.[10] Former Belize City Mayor Zenaida Moya may seek to succeed Finnegan in Mesopotamia should he stand down in the future.[11][12]

Finnegan was successfully treated for prostate cancer in 2010.[13] He underwent spinal surgery in the United States in 2014.[14]

Family

Finnegan's sister Frances Imeon Myvett is the mother of rapper Shyne (then known as Jamal Michael Barrow). Finnegan's friend Dean Barrow is Jamal's father. Finnegan raised Jamal from the age of three to eight, after the boy's mother Frances had immigrated to New York City for work. The boy joined her there, and they lived in Brooklyn, where he later started his music career. Due to Shyne's role in a 1999 nightclub shooting in New York City, the rapper served a nine-year sentence in prison. Afterward the United States deported him to his birthplace of Belize, as he had never become a naturalized citizen.[15]

References
  1. "Faber challenge to Gapi gets rougher", Amandala, 28 December 2012. (accessed 19 November 2014)
  2. "Biography", United Democratic Party website Archived 2008-07-01 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Hyde, Evan X, "From The Publisher", Amandala, 24 October 2008. (accessed 10 May 2015)
  4. General Elections 1993, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
  5. General Elections 1998, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
  6. "Finnegan gets nasty with Dolores in the House", Great Belize Television, 8 August 2013. (accessed 9 May 2015)
  7. "Shyne For Mesop? Mike P For Queen's Square?", Tropical Vision Limited, 13 March 2017. (accessed 21 May 2017)
  8. "Standard Bearers - United Democratic Party", United Democratic Party, (accessed 19 February 2020)
  9. "General Election Official Results" (PDF). Elections and Boundaries Department. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  10. "Hon. Finnegan Gets A Jump On Competition", Tropical Vision Limited, 28 September 2015. (accessed 29 September 2015)
  11. "Finnegan Defends Use of G.O.B. Vehicle in U.D.P. Parade", Great Belize Television, 12 February 2015. (accessed 9 May 2015)
  12. "Rt. Hon Musa & Hon. Finnegan, Ready For The Road, But Not Ready To Retire", Tropical Vision Limited, 6 March 2015 (accessed 9 May 2015)
  13. "Healthy Living and Michael Finnegan talk Cancer", Great Belize Television, 17 May 2012. (accessed 9 May 2015)
  14. "Finnegan back in Belize following spinal surgery", Great Belize Television, 27 February 2014. (accessed 9 May 2015)
  15. "Shyne Released, Deported To Belize". Retrieved 29 July 2012.
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