Owen Bonnici puts aide’s entire family on ministry payroll

Culture Minister Owen Bonnici, one of Labour’s longest-serving ministers, has staffed entities within his portfolio with several members of the same family closely tied to his political machine.

Labour sources close to candidates contesting the same district told The Shift that Bonnici’s biggest canvasser, Manuel Felice, known as Eman, has been employed on a lucrative contract within Bonnici’s ministry for several years.

Felice, originally from Tarxien but residing in Birżebbuġa, currently serves as Bonnici’s Head of Customer Care at the Culture Ministry – a government-paid position often associated with currying favour among the minister’s constituents.

While Felice has long been a prominent member of Bonnici’s private secretariat, he recently consolidated his influence by being elected to the Labour Party’s executive, a move that has further strengthened his position within Bonnici’s district network.

Labour sources told The Shift that, in his role as Head of Customer Care, Felice ensured that as many favours as possible were extended to Minister Bonnici’s constituents, ironically starting with his own family.

Research shows that, over the past few years, all members of the Felice family were given government jobs with entities within Minister Bonnici’s remit.

Felice’s wife, Angie, was placed on the payroll of the Arts Council, managed by Luke Dalli, the son of former Labour minister Helena Dalli. Under Bonnici’s direction, the wife of his customer care chief was given an executive clerical role.

Their son, Neil Felice, was also accommodated. A few years ago, Neil was recruited as a clerk at Heritage Malta, the national heritage agency that falls within Bonnici’s portfolio. However, Neil reportedly wanted to change jobs.

Soon after, he was transferred onto the payroll of another Bonnici agency – the Valletta Cultural Agency, chaired by PL official Jason Micallef. The new role came with improved salary and conditions.

But that was not all.

Eman Felice also managed to secure a government job for another family member. His daughter, Nicole, joined her mother on the Arts Council’s payroll.

The Shift is also informed that Felice’s cousins and other members of his extended family were similarly looked after through Bonnici’s ministry, although no specific details were provided.

Owen Bonnici has been a cabinet minister since 2013 and is known for being one of Labour’s most accommodating ministers, regardless of who occupies the Office of the Prime Minister.

Over the years, he has been associated with several scandals and allegations of irregularities. In the past, he also gave a government appointment to one of his girlfriends, ONE TV reporter Janice Bartolo, by appointing her to the National Orchestra’s board.

At the time, Bonnici defended the appointment by insisting that he had appointed Bartolo “before we became a couple”.

Meanwhile, Bonnici Culture has failed to reply to questions about his exorbitant spending on the official launch of his campaign as a Labour Party candidate, an event which is (conservatively) estimated to have cost tens of thousands of euro.