A deepening public controversy has placed a senior Belizean government official under growing pressure for answers, after internal leaks from the national payment system uncovered hundreds of unexplained public procurement transactions awarding state supply contracts to the minister’s immediate family members.
Oscar Mira, the elected area representative for Belmopan, is at the center of the unfolding scandal, after documents pulled from the government’s Smart Stream financial platform revealed that multiple state agencies overseen by Mira have directed hundreds of monthly payments to his siblings for the provision of food and goods. The leaks have sparked fresh, widespread debate over the lack of effective transparency and accountability mechanisms for public spending across Belize’s government institutions. News Five investigative reporter Shane Williams first uncovered the records and sat down with Ministry of Defense CEO Francis Usher to discuss the scope of the payments and the status of the controversial contracts.
The leaked records, which date all the way back to 2020, show that the vast majority of payments were made to Jenny Armstrong Mira, Oscar Mira’s sister, for the delivery of vegetables and other food staples to a range of high-budget state entities, including the Belize Defense Force, the Belize Coast Guard, and the Western Regional Hospital. The documents show tens of thousands of dollars in monthly public funds transferred to Jenny Mira’s supply business, with one single transaction date—February 17, 2024—recording seven separate payments for Ministry of Defense supplies totaling more than $43,500.
While the total value of the vegetable orders has raised eyebrows among watchdogs, senior defense officials argue that the large expenditure is a reflection of operational scale, not malfeasance. “We buy a full range of produce from cabbage and lettuce to tomatoes, apples, and grapes, depending on seasonal availability,” Usher explained in the interview. “We purchase a very high volume of vegetables to feed hundreds of active service members daily, so it is natural that we see a high volume of payments. The Mira family is not our only vegetable supplier; we work with multiple vendors across all procurement categories, and sometimes non-produce items like eggs are incorrectly categorized with vegetable orders in the system. It is not an unusual level of activity for our department.”
The leaks have also prompted lingering questions about whether the food supplies that public funds have paid for are actually reaching the service members they are intended for. For years, scattered complaints about inadequate rations for troops deployed in remote field locations have circulated among serving personnel, but Usher—who recently retired from active military service before taking up the CEO role—has firmly rejected allegations of missing or insufficient supplies.
“Who feels it knows it. I came directly from active service, and I know firsthand the challenges that soldiers and coast guards face,” Usher said. “I would never turn my back on the men and women serving this country. I am committed to ensuring they get full value for every public dollar spent, and that taxpayer resources are protected with full accountability at every level of procurement.”
Usher also noted that the Mira family has been a contracted supplier to the defense ministry for decades, dating back to previous administrations led by the United Democratic Party, but that the family’s contract volume has been dramatically reduced in the current 2026 financial year. “They did not secure a full vegetable supply contract this year. All awards are determined through open evaluation of tender bids against published criteria, and the contracts have not even been finalized yet. For the vegetable lot, another bidder delivered better value for taxpayers, so that is the vendor we selected,” Usher explained.
When asked if the cut to the Mira family’s contracts was tied to Oscar Mira no longer holding the position of Minister of Defense—and thus losing direct influence over procurement decisions—Usher rejected any connection outright. “I can say categorically that when Oscar Mira was Minister of Defense and I served as his CEO, he never once pressured me to award all vegetable contracts or any other contracts to his family’s business,” Usher confirmed.
Usher later clarified that, while Jenny Mira’s vegetable contract was not renewed this year, Oscar Mira’s brother Stanley Mira did successfully win one of the 28 open tender lots, securing a contract to supply rice and beans to the defense ministry. News Five has repeatedly reached out to the entire Mira family for comment on the allegations and the leaked records, but has not received any response as of publication. This report was compiled by investigative reporter Shane Williams for News Five.