Kurt Tibbetts

Darwin Kurt Tibbetts, OBE (born 2 March 1954) is a Caymanian politician and former Leader of Government Business in the Cayman Islands.

His acumen for fund raising helped the club collect hundreds of thousands of dollars that were ploughed back into the community, mostly to augment government welfare programmes.

He also helped introduce the Lions’ Benzarama fundraisers that brought country music legends Johnny Cash, Charlie Pride, Tanya Tucker, Ronnie Milsap, Don Williams and Ben E. King to the Cayman Islands.

On November 8, 2001 legislators led by McKeeva Bush voted to oust Tibbetts as Leader of Government Business saying he has not done enough to counter a slowing economy.

As part of the changes to the Assembly's Executive Council, legislators also removed Tibbetts supporter Edna Moyle as minister of community development and women's affairs.

Tibbetts' major political accomplishments include the freedom of Information act, which for the first time in the caymanian history grants residents virtually unfettered access to the inner workings of government, the 2009 Cayman Islands Constitution, infrastructure and capital projects that he has been instrumental in creating, such as the construction of the Esterley Tibbetts Highway, The East-West Arterial and the New Government Administration Building.

For two terms as an Opposition Member, he consolidated his understanding of the importance of medium- and long-term planning for the Islands, as well as the need for constitutional modernization to strengthen Cayman's democracy.

Premier Alden McLaughlin appointed Tibbetts to serve in cabinet as Minister responsible for Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure in the 2013 - 2017 People's Progressive Movement Administration.

In March 2017 Tibbetts announced that after six terms and 25 years in office he would not seek re-election and his retirement from politics in the Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands prior to the 2017 general elections.

Tibbetts was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Queen Elizabeth II Birthday Honours for his contributions to politics, his success in business and his community service.