Tonight, a growing controversy is putting a government minister under the spotlight. Belmopan Area Representative Oscar Mira is facing intense scrutiny after leaked records from the government’s payment system revealed hundreds of transactions to his siblings for supplying goods to state institutions he had influence over. The documents raise new questions about transparency and oversight into public spending. News Five’s Shane Williams dug into those records and spoke with Ministry of Defense CEO Francis Usher about the scale of those payments and where those contracts stand today.
Shane Williams, Reporting
Questions are being raised after records from the government’s Smart Stream system surfaced, showing hundreds of payments tied to one supplier. Those payments went to Jenny Armstrong Mira, the sister of Oscar Mira, for providing vegetables and other food items to several government institutions.
According to the documents, these transactions date back to 2020 and include supplies delivered to the Belize Defense Force, the Belize Coast Guard, the Western Regional Hospital, and other state entities. The files show tens of thousands of dollars being paid to a single supplier every month for mostly vegetables. This file shows that on February 17th, 2024, there were seven payments to Jenny Mira for supplies to the Ministry of Defense, totaling over forty-three thousand, five hundred dollars. While the figure may seem high for vegetables, officials say it’s normal. CEO Francis Usher points out that feeding hundreds of soldiers and sailors daily drives up costs, reflecting the scale of the operation.
Francis Usher
Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of National Defence and Border Security
“We buy a lot of vegetables and I’ll tell you why in a few. But we buy everything from cabbage to lettuce to tomatoes to apples to grapes to – depending on the season. And we buy a lot of vegetables and so there is a high volume of payments that need to be made The Miras are also not the only vegetable supplier. So we have others as well that we buy various vegetables from and typically, for whatever reason, eggs sometimes get lumped in with vegetables. I found that strange too, but sometimes that happens. And so we have various different suppliers and even outside of the vegetable realm, we have many different suppliers that supply things to the BDF and the Coast Guard. So it’s not unusual the volume.”
Questions are now surfacing about whether soldiers and sailors are actually receiving the supplies being paid for. Complaints about rations have surfaced for years, especially from those on duty in the field. But CEO Francis Usher, himself a recently retired soldier, firmly pushes back, insisting those claims don’t hold up.
Francis Usher
“One of the biggest things for me is that who feels it knows it, man. I came straight from the belly of the beast, and I am fortunate and grateful to be in a position now where I can make a difference for some of the things that I used to complain about. And so I would never turn my back on the sailors or the soldiers. I’ll ensure that they always get value for their money, and in my current capacity, I’ll always make sure that the people’s, uh, the people’s money, the people’s resources are looked after and that there’s accountability across the board.”
Usher says Jenny Mira and her family have been supplying the ministry with vegetables for years, even under the United Democratic Party. But this year their contract was significantly cut down.
Francis Usher
“So they didn’t get any this financial year. There were several – there were several so the we are going by the submission of based on the evaluation criteria. Actually, the lots have not been officially signed yet even but as far as the vegetables, there was another vegetable provider that came this year that based on all the evaluation criteria, gave the best value for money and so that’s who, that’s who we’re going with.”
Shane Williams
“The fact that DeMira didn’t get the contract this year is because Oscar Mira is no longer in the Ministry of Defense. Does that have anything to do with, um, the influence that he, he has over the ministry?”
Francis Usher
“No, no. I can say categorically that Oscar Mira, when he was Minister of Defense and I was his CEO, never came to me and said, “All the vegetables have to go to Mira’s Fresh Fruits and Vegetables,” or any contract needs to go in any direction.”
CEO Usher reached back to clarify that while the Mira’s supply contract has been cut significantly this financial year. Oscar Mira’s brother, Stanley Mira, did win one bid of the twenty-eight lots put to tender, for the supply of rice and beans. We have reached out to the Mira family for comment but have not received a response. Shane Williams for News Five.
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