DC presence comes at cost of $640,000 to taxpayers
Bermuda’s presence in Washington is costing taxpayers almost $640,000 a year, according to new information shared by the Cabinet Office.
The public authority released a list of 18 contracts in response to a public access to information request first submitted in April by The Royal Gazette, including three connected to its activities in the United States capital.
The list also featured contracts with government MP Jamahl Simmons, former government communications head Aderonke Bademosi Wilson, Middle East adviser Alexia Hefti and others.
In Washington, a firm called theGroup, led by a senior political strategist for former US president Barack Obama, continues to have a $20,000-a-month lobbying contract with the Government.
It has held the role since 2017 and kept its “month to month” contract after the Government issued a request for proposals notice in April for “qualified and experienced government relations and lobbying firms to engage decision-makers on legislative and quasi-legislative actions”.
The Cabinet Office pays $20,459 in monthly rent for the Government’s DC office at Liberty Place and $12,750 a month, including a housing allowance of $3,167, to director Anthony Howell.
Mr Howell’s salary has increased since March 2025, when he was paid $11,084, including a $3,167 housing allowance.
The total cost of the three Washington contracts is $53,210 a month or $638,520 a year.
Other overseas contractors include Ms Hefti, whose eStato Management Consultancy in the United Arab Emirates is paid $14,346 a month for “Middle Eastern affairs and policy” and to “define Bermuda Government’s strategic direction and drive foreign investment opportunities in the Middle East”.
The special adviser contract runs from April 1 this year to March 31, 2027.
Bermuda may not open an overseas office in the Middle East without seeking permission from Britain.
The restriction is set out in a letter of entrustment from the British Government, which has been released by the Cabinet Office in response to a public access to information request from The Royal Gazette.
The July 20, 2023 letter to the Governor from David Rutley, when he was the Minister for Americas and the Caribbean, allows Bermuda to have formal representation in the Middle East within limits.
Mr Rutley’s letter enables the Premier or another Cabinet minister to “scope and develop links with the Middle East region, as well as industry actors, particularly in the areas of financial services, trade and investment, tourism and in cultural, sport and educational links”.
It gives permission for the appointment of an adviser to the Middle East region to further that cause — as happened in April 2023, when consultant Alexia Hefti was hired — but states they have “no diplomatic status and may not perform consular, notarial or privileges”.
Mr Rutley wrote: “For the avoidance of doubt, this entrustment does not extend to the opening of a formal overseas office in the Middle East.
“Any such proposal will require further consultation with the Governor and an additional letter of entrustment from the United Kingdom.”
David Burt, the Premier, told the Investopia conference in the United Arab Emirates in March 2023 that he wanted to strengthen links between the Gulf state and Bermuda.
In May 2023, he revealed the appointment of Ms Hefti as a Middle East adviser and her $20,000-a-month, one-year contract, which has been extended each year since.
The October 7 Cabinet Office disclosure includes her contracts from 2023 to date, showing she is now on $14,346 a month, and her expenses for 2023 to 2025, amounting to $27,246.
Ms Hefti, whose full name is Kendra Alexia Louise Hefti-Rossier, is now the island’s special representative for the Middle East and Africa, with a contract in place until next March.
Bermuda also has a presence in Britain and Europe. Rent for the island’s London Office is £270,000 (about $359,564) annually, according to the Pati disclosure, with the contract due to end on August 4, 2028.
Aliyyah Ahad, the Government’s Brussels representative, has a contract for $16,440 a month, while rent for the Brussels office is £122,108 (about $162,626) for a 16-month contract between September 2026 and December 2027.
The Cabinet Office also pays the Brussels and London offices of Firehouse Communications £4,400 each a month, which is equivalent to a monthly total of about $11,718, or $140,616 a year.
Firehouse provides “management of the Government’s global public relations and international media engagement”.
Closer to home, Mr Simmons, Progressive Labour Party MP for Sandys South, provides communications support to the Cabinet Office and the Department of Communications for $7,766 a month, or $93,192.
His salary for the role appears to have reduced, as it was given as $108,711 in March.
The Cabinet Office said then that Mr Simmons also received $15,000 as a Bermuda Shipping and Marine Authority board member, $12,000 as an Aviation Authority board member and $300 from the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation — all in addition to his $73,555-a-year parliamentary salary.
The new Pati disclosure lists the former director of the Department of Communications, Ms Bademosi Wilson, as having a contract as a career fair co-ordinator for $60,000 — marked “not to be exceeded” — or $110 an hour.
It also shows that Canadian company Info-Tech Research Group is still providing IT research and advisory services to the Cabinet Office under a three-year $153,211 contract, which runs out in March 2028.
The firm previously made headlines in 2024 after it was alleged that procurement rules were breached by the Government’s Chief Information Officer when he brought in the overseas cybersecurity experts.
Public authorities are required under the Pati Act to publish in the Official Gazette all contracts they hold worth $50,000 or more annually, but the Cabinet Office has rarely released complete lists.
The Gazette has submitted Pati requests for the records, resulting in a disclosure in March 2025 and the latest on October 19.
The newspaper’s most recent request was made in April and resubmitted in July after getting no response.
•Ronah Persad-Banarsee, on $11,719 a month, for implementation of job evaluation and grade structure, and implementation of Public Service Commission regulations;
• Kim Burgess-Samuels, on $8,899 a month, for compliance consultancy/job description updates;
• Graham Woods, of Curule Consulting, who receives a maximum £75,000 (about $100,225) annually, for Personal Information Protection Act contactor services;
•Personify Health Inc, which receives $75,971 a year as Global Health Platform Partner
• Andrew Parsons, Jocene Harmon and Stephen Todd, who are each paid $5,000 a month as government chairs for assigned union negotiations towards new collective bargaining agreements.
• To view the Cabinet Office Pati disclosures, see Related Media
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