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OBA: Attorney-General should have disclosed husband’s contract

Full disclosure: Attorney-General Kathy Lynn Simmons (File photograph)

Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Attorney-General, should have revealed details of a contract between her husband and her ministry, the One Bermuda Alliance has said.

Susan Jackson, the party’s MP for Pembroke West, spoke out after it was revealed that Myron Simmons was paid more than $166,000 as a consultant for the Attorney-General’s Chambers between May and December last year.

Mr Simmons was previously employed as a lawyer in the department. He resigned in March 2023 immediately after setting up his own law firm, Onyx Law. Onyx was awarded the consultancy contract — at $20,833 per month — shortly after Mr Simmons resigned.

In response to parliamentary questions from the Opposition last May, David Burt, the Premier, confirmed that Mr Simmons had been awarded a three-month consultancy contract with the Attorney-General’s Chambers between April and June at $13,721.96 per month.

However, he failed to mention the contract that Mr Simmons’s law firm had signed with the Attorney-General’s Chambers a few weeks earlier.

Ms Jackson said last night that the failure of Ms Simmons — who is also the Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Reform — to make public her husband’s contract undermined trust in the Government.

Ms Jackson also took aim at the Premier for failing to mention the Onyx contract in the House of Assembly when he provided details of all contracts the Government had with private sector companies.

The OBA MP said: “The decision by Kathy Lynn Simmons to approve a consultancy arrangement between her ministry and her husband’s law firm, Onyx Law, should have been publicly disclosed.

“The contract between the Attorney-General's Chambers and Onyx Law should have been included in the list of 70-plus contracts read out in Parliament last year by the Premier and finance minister, David Burt.

“Who omitted Onyx Law from the list of consultants? Was the Premier aware of the conveniently omitted contract? This is taxpayers’ money and the Government owes an explanation.

“Bermudians are struggling, and for many their financial ends do not meet their needs, yet with minister Simmons’s approval, Onyx Law was engaged for eight months and paid for services at $20,833 a month.

“Not only is this concerning, but what's troublesome is that as a member of the household, minister Simmons would indirectly benefit from monies paid to her husband. Taxpayers are owed transparency — it is the right thing to do.

“How can taxpayers have trust in a government that ignores basic scrutiny? How does a consultant with a recent civil court judgment against him clear the screening to engage in government services? And why do we not have laws in place to protect private citizens and the government from financial mishandling?

“In any country with a functioning regulatory system, the Attorney-General would have no choice but to resign.”

Neither Ms Simmons nor Mr Burt responded to requests for comment by press time.

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Published February 07, 2024 at 7:50 am (Updated February 07, 2024 at 7:50 am)

OBA: Attorney-General should have disclosed husband’s contract

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