The Minnis Administration awarded Disaster Reconstruction Authority (DRA) Managing Director and diehard party member Kay Forbes-Smith a $110,000 contract with nearly $50,000 in allowances months before it was kicked out of office.
The four-year contract was signed in December 2020, paying Forbes-Smith $110,000 annually along with a $30,000 housing allowance and a $15,000 entertainment allowance.
Then-Prime MInister Dr. Hubert Minnis made sure his loyal ally was straight before the election, making the contract airtight with no exit clause. The new Davis Administration has to continue to pay Forbes-Smith whether it wants to or not.
Forbes-Smith helped to organize Free National Movement campaign events ahead of the 2012 and 2017 General Elections. Upon taking office in 2017, Minnis appointed Forbes-Smith as President of the Senate. However, she resigned as a senator and president in December 2019 to spearhead relief efforts on Grand Bahama in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.
Forbes-Smith also faced immense pressure to step down as Senate President after it was revealed that she was also being well paid as the local consultant for Carnival Cruise Line, which was working with the Minnis Administration to build a new cruise port on Grand Bahama.
The FNM drafted ironclad contracts to keep its supporters pockets' fat post-election despite criticizing the Christie Administration for awarding a three-year contract to former Bridge Authority General Manager Melissa Hall. After the FNM took office, Hall was fired in 2018 with three months pay and the government refused to honor her contract.
She pursued legal action but it was dismissed by a Supreme Court judge who said Hall's claim that she was entitled to three years notice was "delusional" and "a clear and rank abuse of power."
Does this mean it was "a clear and rank abuse of power" for the same Minnis Administration to award a four-year airtight contract to Forbes-Smith and several other party members near the end of its term?