KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Jan 3, CMC – Prominent businessman and former legislator, Ormiston Arnold “Ken” Boyea, has died. He was 87.
Boyea, a first cousin of Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, died at his home in Prospect after a period of ill health.
He was elected a member of parliament for Central Kingstown on the now ruling Unity Labour Party ticket (ULP) in 1998 and served on the opposition benches until 2001.
However, by 2001, Boyea had fallen out with the ULP and founded the People’s Progressive Movement (PPPM), which contested the general election that year but failed to win a seat, receiving 2.6 per cent of the popular votes.
The ULP won the elections under Gonsalves’ leadership and has remained in office with him at the helm since. The PPM became defunct sometime after the 2001 polls.
However, Boyea enjoyed more success in business. The trained engineering served as the chief engineer at St. Vincent Electricty Services (VINLEC), when the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) owned the lone electricity company.
However, in 1977, businessman P.H. Veira headhunted him to manage the East Caribbean Flour Mills (ECFM), of which the Vieras are a major shareholder. But that relationship ended on a sour note with Boyea later suing the company for wrongful dismissal.
Boyea brought the KFC franchise to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 1986 and held it until 2015 when the restaurant closed after months of complaints by customers about the quality of the food.
Boyea blamed the delay in the ULP’s promised new city at Arnos Vale for the closure of KFC, an assertion that Gonsalves rejected.
The businessman had invested EC$16 million (One Ec dollar=US$0.37 cents) in a new building at Arnos Vale that housed a KFC restaurant. The KFC franchise has since been awarded to a new entity.
Boyea was the first-ever Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean and he was St. Vincent and the Grenadines Entrepreneur of the Year 1996.
Boyea also represented the country cricket and was also a national lawn tennis doubles champion (in partnership with Allie Lynch).
CMC/kc/ir/2025