As the Briceño administration faces mounting public pressure over alleged impropriety in government contracting, a top official at Belize’s Ministry of Home Affairs has publicly pushed back against growing criticism, insisting that minister Oscar Mira remains fully focused on his portfolio despite weeks of unaddressed controversy.
After Mira maintained a public silence for multiple weeks following the emergence of reports linking his family members to lucrative state food supply contracts, Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, chief executive officer of the Ministry of Home Affairs, broke ranks to speak out on the minister’s behalf. In an on-the-record interview with local media, Bennett rejected the growing backlash against Mira, framing the allegations as nothing more than distracting “noise in the market” that has had no impact on the minister’s ability to lead.
Bennett emphasized that Mira has continued to oversee core ministry functions without interruption, including ongoing work across the Forensics Services and national Police Department, two key agencies under the home affairs portfolio. “From what I see, the noise out there has little or no impact on his ability to provide leadership to the ministry,” Bennett stated, adding that the ongoing controversy has no connection to public trust in the minister or the integrity of his work. When asked whether the scandal undermines ongoing efforts to rebuild public confidence in law enforcement, Bennett flatly rejected the link, saying he sees no threat to the minister’s integrity.
The controversy ignited after opposition figures from the United Democratic Party (UDP) raised alarms over reports that multiple government food provision contracts, covering everything from fresh vegetables to bulk staples, were awarded to companies tied to Mira’s close relatives. UDP leader Tracy Panton confirmed that the party has formally filed a Freedom of Information request to force full public disclosure of all agreements between the government and any entities linked to the Mira family.
The request opens the door to a broader investigation into the full lifecycle of the contracts, with Panton’s party demanding answers to a long list of unresolved questions: the identity of the winning bidders, the total value of the awards, whether public tenders were properly advertised, how bids were evaluated and approved, whether required procurement protocols were followed, whether mandatory conflict of interest disclosures were submitted, and whether any politically exposed persons held stakes in the awarded companies. The opposition is also probing claims that invoices may have been split, stacked or inflated to avoid regulatory scrutiny, that public officials faced improper pressure to approve early payments before goods were delivered, and whether the government received fair market value for the public funds spent.
The unfolding scandal has put the sitting Briceño administration under intense public and political scrutiny, turning what began as isolated contracting reports into a major test of the government’s commitment to transparent procurement ethics. As of publication, Minister Mira has yet to issue a public response to the allegations himself.