Prime Minister Gaston Browne has come to the defense of his wife, Housing and Works Minister Maria Browne, dismissing opposition claims linking her to the recent vehicle procurement controversy and calling her “one of the most honest persons I’ve ever met.”
Speaking on his Browne and Browne Show, the Prime Minister rejected social media allegations that sought to implicate her in the ongoing investigation. He said the rumors were part of a deliberate effort to distract from the true sources of wrongdoing. “They tried to create a political problem for me,” Browne said. “They’re trying to shift it on Minister Browne as though she had something to do with it when she had no connection, no knowledge.”
Browne said the attacks were politically motivated and designed to “obfuscate the issue” by deflecting scrutiny away from certain business figures. “Just imagine the person who is helping to solve these problems—the person being vindicated—is the one they’re trying to frame,” he said. “What they’re doing to her is totally inappropriate.”
He emphasized that Maria Browne’s vigilance on procurement issues was instrumental in shaping the Cabinet’s policy to centralize vehicle purchases across government. “It was Minister Browne who brought to my attention that the process to acquire government vehicles was too loose,” Browne said. “She asked us to centralize it, and the Cabinet agreed.”
That decision, made more than two years ago, led to a new rule requiring all government vehicle purchases to be backed by a Cabinet decision. Maria Browne also recommended creating a procurement committee at Public Works chaired by the Financial Secretary, which excludes ministers to ensure transparency. “It is Minister Browne who strengthened the governance framework within Public Works to ensure that there would not be any such violation,” the Prime Minister said.
Browne described his wife as calm but strong, noting her resilience in the face of political attacks. “She appears very soft on the outside, but she has this inner strength in which she’s been able to hold it together,” he said. “She has my full support.”
By intertwining personal defense with his government’s broader anti-corruption narrative, Browne framed the controversy as both a political smear and a lesson in integrity. He argued that the centralization policy Maria Browne championed demonstrates her commitment to good governance.
“She sits in the Cabinet, she knows the process, and she has worked to strengthen it,” Browne said. “So when people try to smear her name, they’re really attacking the very reforms that protect public accountability.”
