Panton Says Only an Independent Defense Audit Will Do

Can government fairly investigate a procurement scandal that now appears to touch people close to the Prime Minister? That is the question Opposition Leader Tracy Panton is raising tonight. Following the departure of two government ministers and reports involving Prime Minister Briceño’s brother and Cabinet Secretary Stuart Leslie in Ministry of Defense procurement, Panton is again calling for an external forensic audit. She says the Auditor General’s dependence on directives from the Office of the Prime Minister only deepens concerns about whether any investigation can proceed without fear or favor.

 

Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition

“I have written to the Prime Minister. I’m still waiting for his response, asking for an independent audit to be done. I feel like the Auditor General’s office has been compromised. The Auditor General should not wait for direction from the Prime Minister’s office to do an audit. She is a constitutional office holder. She responds to the National Assembly. And the fact that she has been waiting for direction and guidance from the Office of Prime Minister is already – to me has already compromised what potentially can come out of that audit. We have said in our letter to the Prime Minister that we don’t want the audit to tell us what we already know. What is already in the public domain, we know that. We want an independent forensic audit to be done, not only with the ministries that we now have public information, but within the entire system.  And not only with government ministries and departments, but with statutory boards. And I think it’s incumbent on the Prime Minister, if he hopes to regain any trust and confidence in the Belizean people, that he allows this sort of independent forensic audit to be done. What we are looking at right now, Shane, is fruits and vegetables, meats seasoning. They’re big-ticket items you know. There is – and boots. There’s guns and ammunition for the BDF. There are equipment for the Coast Guard. We haven’t heard about those big-ticket items yet.”

 

Procurement Reform: Fix It, But Follow the Law

 

Should government pay suppliers before deliveries are completed, or should payments follow the pace of what is actually being provided? That question is now part of the discussion coming out of the Ministry of Defense procurement controversy. Cabinet Minister Francis Fonseca says there are valid concerns about how payments are structured, but warns that any reform must comply with financial regulations. He also spoke about the much-debated ten-thousand-dollar threshold and how the Briceño administration plans to use the audit report to reform the payment system.

 

Francis Fonseca, Cabinet Minister 

“The BDF thing, I hear different people talking about it. There are practical considerations when you are dealing with soldiers and the need to supply them quickly with fresh food. But how can we achieve that objective without violating any of your orders, your financial regulation, and stores orders. So I hope that coming out of the exercise there will be clear recommendations. And those recommendations, I hear people ask what do you think about the threshold, that should not come from politicians. Those recommendations should come from the technical people, the financial secretary and his team. They should say, listen this threshold of ten thousand is not working. This is what we should have based on our experience, the reality of ministries in 2026. The PUP, I think is handling it responsibly. We are not hiding anything. We are having a full, compressive investigation into the matter. The AG will do her job and present that report to the Prime Minister and we will make decisions based on those recommendations.”

 

Fonseca says Prime Minister John Briceño proved he means business on accountability by sending Ministers Oscar Mira and Florencio Marin Jr. on leave.

 

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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