By Prior Beharry
MINISTER of Land and Legal Affairs Saddam Hosein sparked uproar in Parliament yesterday when he alleged that social media commentator and blogger Rhoda Bharath was paid $3.3 million in public funds with the approval of former finance minister Colm Imbert.
He said the matter has been referred to Attorney General John Jeremie for examination.
Speaking during the budget debate in the House of Representatives on Friday, Hosein – who is also the Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries – claimed Bharath received just over $3 million from the Ministry of Finance over several years and a further $300,000 from the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB).
He said he had documents showing Bharath’s past engagement as a media consultant to the ministry through her company, Type One Media and Research Solutions.
According to Hosein, the company was registered in October 2017 and “within weeks” secured a contract that later rolled into successive agreements running from December 1, 2017, to May 1, 2025.
He alleged the firm was “specially selected” under a single-source procurement, saying the process amounted to the former minister “handpicking” Bharath. He also named then–Finance Ministry permanent secretary Vishnu Dhanpaul—now an Opposition senator—as having approved the contract.
Hosein read out a series of payments he said were made for communications-related services, including $80,000 for a 45-second National Investment Fund advertisement, $82,000 for “services rendered for December 2020,” and $168,000 for a “loan by loan” advertisement. He further alleged that there was an item for “purchase of Christmas tokens” totaling $56,300.
Turning to the NLCB, Hosein claimed Bharath collected $300,000 from the state enterprise but said the file lacked performance evaluations.
Quoting from what he described as an internal note, he told the House: “On perusal of her file, Rhoda Bharath, I noted that no evaluation performance review was prepared therefore I am unable to state if she met her contractual duties.”
Hosein accused Bharath—who operates the NewsSauce social media page—of using public funds “to denigrate persons” and of making racist and xenophobic remarks online.
He said he had asked the Attorney General to review the matter and called on The University of the West Indies (UWI), where he said Bharath is employed, to consider whether her online activity breaches the university’s Code of Ethics. Citing a past defamation matter, he noted that Government Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal previously won a $100,000 judgment against Bharath.
Government members loudly thumped their desks as Hosein declared he was unafraid to “expose what they were doing with taxpayers’ money,” adding that even People’s National Movement members had been targets of Bharath’s commentary.
A post on the NewsSauce page referenced Hosein’s remarks, stating: “GO THROUGH HARD SADAM (sic). I AM VERY VERY READY.”
