Zenaida Moya

Zenaida Moya
Mayor of Belize City
In office 1 March 2006 – 7 March 2012
Preceded by	David Fonseca
Succeeded by	Darrell Bradley
Personal details
Political party	United Democratic Party
Alma mater	Gonzaga University University of Detroit-Mercy

Zenaida Victoria Moya is a former mayor of Belize City, Belize, first elected in elections held in March 2006. She is a member of the United Democratic Party (UDP). Moya was Belize City's first female mayor.

Moya was born to a large family headed by Erlean and Eugene Moya, Sr. and has lived all her life in Belize City. She attended local schools in Belize, including Pallotti High School and St. John's College, Junior College, before leaving for Spokane, Washington to attend Gonzaga University, where she earned a B.Sc. in Business Administration, with an Economics concentration. Further studies at University of Detroit-Mercy, in Detroit, Michigan, led to a Master's in this area.

Moya joined the local Social Security Board in 1995 under a UDP administration, and later the Ministry of Economic Development, working in both cases as an economist. With the accession of the PUP to power in 1998, Moya was moved up to Registrar of Cooperatives and Credit Unions in 2002. By October 2004, she was facing a transfer to a different Ministry in the wake of conflicts with the Northern Fishermen's Cooperative over questionable practices and ignorance of her department's directives. The NFC reputedly was controlled by a relative of Prime Minister Said Musa.

Moya was named supervisor of credit unions and went on vacation leave. In December 2004 she was asked to submit recommendations for the 2005-2006 budget. When Musa presented the budget in January 2006, it led to another round of protests in which Moya was directly involved.

Moya, an officer in the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), participated in the January 2005 strikes and shutdowns precipitated by the Musa budget. She faced criticism from some of her own Association of Public Service Senior Managers(APSSM) members for speaking out against the Musa People's United Party (PUP) administration, and general disapproval from supporters of the PUP. She transferred again to head the Public Sector Investment program, Ministry of National Development. But after another round of protests in April directed at the telecom industry, Moya briefly faced termination from her post. Directed to appear before the Public Services Commission later that summer to explain her actions, Moya, accompanied by lawyer and Leader of the Opposition Dean Barrow and Public Service Union of Belize president Dylan Reneau (Moya had been ostracized from the APSSM and moved to the PSU), denied that her actions in any way violated rules and regulations governing the public service. Moya was cleared and moved on-to local politics.

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