What Will an Audit Stretched Back to 2015 Reveal of the UDP?
The Ministry of Defence audit is no longer just about the “Mira Millions.” Prime Minister John Briceño says investigators will examine the ministry’s finances all the way back to 2015. It is a period that covers both the previous UDP administration and the current PUP government.
PM Briceño announced this during the PUP’s National Party Council meeting over the weekend. Today, during an interview conducted by CTV3 and livestreamed on his personal Facebook page, the PM said he’s looking for answers that go back a decade.
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This move puts former UDP Minister John Saldivar squarely in the frame when he served his political tenure as Minister of National Security.
“We have been hearing some horror stories. Apparently the BDF at that time dealt mostly with one company and there were very little reporting. We will ask the Auditor General, since you are doing this, how about we go to 2015 and then we will see,” Briceño said.
Briceño added that he is “not happy with what has happened” with the ‘Mira Millions’ and other reports of questionable payments processed under the government’s $10,000 procurement threshold.
‘Mira Millions,’ erupted in June after Saldivar released screenshots implicating companies tied to family members of Oscar Mira, former Minister of State for Defence. Since then, further screenshots and company links have surfaced.
Briceño insisted the review will not spare his own government. “This kind of behavior has to stop, we can’t continue this. I speak from my end, we as the PUP, we said we are going to be different. And we can’t just say it, we have to do it,” he said.