Under Fire, Mira Distances Himself from Family Contracts Controversy

After days of mounting criticism, Minister of Home Affairs, Oscar Mira, is finally speaking out, and distancing himself from the controversy. News Five caught up with him this afternoon at a police awards ceremony in Belmopan, where he addressed growing concerns over government contracts awarded to members of his immediate family. Mira insists he had no role in granting those deals and did not influence anyone involved in the approval process. It’s his first public response as questions over the contracts continue to intensify.

 

Oscar Mira, Minister of Home Affairs

“I don’t know if there is an ongoing public criticism. Let me just make clear, I sit on no procurement committee as the minister of state and as minister I have never been on anyone of those procurement committees. Those are lead by the Ministry of Finance. I have no say. I have no influence and I have never in my ministry, or any other ministry, try to influence the decision of that committee. They have a job to do and they have done their job professionally.”

 

Paul Lopez

“How is that several of your family members were and are able to benefit from lucrative government contracts?”

 

Oscar Mira

“Tenders are published on the newspaper. Any interested persons can apply and pay for that tender. They then go through a lengthy process. I had no say. I was not part of those committees. If they did so, they did on their own. Not with my influence or anything to do with me. Everybody who reads the newspaper and wants to be a supplier can go ahead and do that. It is a long process. It is a process that I have no say. It is a process that happens. It is in every ministry of government. And as such, I was not a member of that committee or that process.”

 

Paul Lopez

“How is it in your view not a conflict of interest?”

 

Oscar Mira

“I do not ask nor did I ask anyone who applied. There are many people who applied. That is just one company who applied. I was not a part of it. So I don’t even know how many people applied. It is not me who makes decisions. It is a committee who sits together and make the decision who get contracts. Those are done by buying tender packages and going through the requisite of what needs to be supplied and I had nothing to do with that.”

 

Oscar Mira Shrugs Off Questions on Payment Trail Involving His Siblings

 

The controversy isn’t just about who got the contracts; it’s now about how the money moved. Leaked Smart Stream screenshots are fueling new questions about how payments were processed to companies tied to Minister Oscar Mira’s family. But when asked if anything about those transactions struck him as unusual, Mira again kept his distance. He says he had no involvement in how government pays its contractors and maintains the process is out of his hands. For the minister, it’s all part of what he calls a “learning experience”, even as questions about the payments continue to grow louder.

 

Oscar Mira, Minister of Home Affairs

“I don’t have anything to do with how government pays their contractors or suppliers. I have nothing to do as minister with how the ministry of Finance pays. That is not my decision. I don’t know and I don’t think it is also the decision of any supplier to ask how to be paid. I really do not believe it is that way. It is as I have understood it now, a part of how payments are done. I really do not know. As minster I do not go into the fiancé office or anywhere trying to influence how or who gets paid.”

 

Reporter

“But now that all this information has come to light, all of this look bad. Will you do anything to rectify it?”

 

Oscar Mira

“I think it is a public perception yes. I really don’t know how those payments were made that way. If you go through the process, the procurement process, pay for your tender package and pay for the paperwork included, because I have been asking. And you are awarded a contract, I think you should be paid for the service you have given. Is there a better way? I believe there is. I think there is any supplier who would want to be paid in any small pieces. As a supplier I am sure you want to be paid fully. But that has nothing to do with me as a minister of state or ministry of home affairs. I believe every crisis you learn from them and I am trying to make sure I learn from this.”

 

Detention, Then Documents: How One Complaint Opened the Mira Floodgates

 

It all started when Minister Oscar Mira filed a complaint against Alberto August over social media comments. Police detained August overnight, but the fallout didn’t end there. Soon after, former Belmopan Area Representative John Saldivar began releasing leaked Smart Stream records online, showing payments to businesses linked to the Mira family. Now, with the controversy intensifying, we put a key question to the minister: does he regret filing that complaint, and could others face similar charges for speaking out?

 

Oscar Mira, Minister of Home Affairs

“I think I must correct you. I did not levy any charges. I did not ask anyone to levy any charges. I am not a policeman. I cant levy any charge. I did not file a charge either. What I did was I made a complaint.”

 

Reporter

“Do you regret it though?”

 

Oscar Mira

“I made a complaint because based on advice, I felt it was what needed to be done. You don’t after a tragedy that happened here in Belmopan, you don’t try to get cheap political mileage out of a tragedy that impacted the community, that impacted the whole city of Belmopan and the medical community. There was a family that was crying for the loss of someone who have contributed so much to the city and wider community and I felt that those words that I did not say, I made a complaint and I went to the police department to make a complaint that those were not my words. Whatever it is he said he said, whatever type of, I don’t know how you call it, you don’t do that in those circumstances. I made that complaint as a citizen. I did not make that complaint as a minister of police and he was afforded the same process as any other person.”

 

Reporter

“Do you plan to file any charges against anybody else, considering that there is major discourse happening on social media and you have been mocked.”

 

Oscar Mira

“I do not file charges.”

 

Reporter

“Make a complaint.”

 

Oscar Mira

“I will not discuss that, because I have given all those things to my attorney. My attorney is looking at those. He will advice me on the way forward. Many defamatory statement have been said and reproduced by many news outlets and other people. My attorney is going to give me the advice and that is in his hands.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

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