Andrew Fahie was born in 1970 to Ernest Alturo Fahie and Iris Dorene Romney. After graduating from the BVI High School in 1986, Fahie attended the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and then earned a BSc in Education from Florida A & M University, graduating in 1991. After that he initially taught as a Maths teacher at Elmore Stoutt High School. Fahie is married to Sheila Fahie. Together they have had three children, one of whom died in infancy.
Political career
Fahie was first elected as the 1st District representative in 1999 at the age of 28, and he has held that seat continuously since then. He has previously served as Minister for Education and Culture from 2007 to 2011, and as Minister for Health, Education and Welfare from 2000 to 2003. Since 1999 he has dominated the voting in his 1st District - his smallest margin of victory has been 27.6% of the vote.
In the 2015 general election only two members of the Virgin Islands Party won their seats - Julian Fraser and Fahie. Subsequently, Fraser and Fahie argued over who should be named as leader of the opposition, as Fraser believed that he should take over as the incumbent party leader following the general election defeat. Fahie disagreed as he believed the majority of party members would prefer him to take over as leader following the party's disastrous electoral defeat. As the Constitution required that the Leader of the Opposition commanded a support of the "majority" of the opposition members, and the only two opposition members disagreed, there was an impasse. Governor John Duncan gave the men a month to resolve their differences, but they were unable to do so, and eventually the Governor appointed Fraser as the official Leader of the Opposition. Fahie would later oust Fraser as party leader, and would then be appointed as Leader of the Opposition in his stead. Fahie was later succeeded by Ronnie Skelton as opposition leader on 22 December 2018 after the ruling Government party split, and the Skelton led faction became the largest opposition party.
In 2007 Fahie suffered a gunshot wound to his left foot during an attempted bank robbery. The wound was not described as serious. Fahie later tried to sue the bank for the injuries he received. He lost at trial, and the case was settled before the appeal was heard.
Controversy
In 2003 Offshore Alert reported that Fahie was under investigation in relation to allegations of money laundering. Fahie has never denied that such an investigation took place, but has always contended that no action was taken against him as a result of the investigation. He has referred to the allegations as "outdated, unproven, and unsubstantiated".
