Revealed – Minister awards €53,300 property lease direct order to his own agency chair

The Home Affairs Ministry, headed by Byron Camilleri in 2025, awarded a €53,300 direct order to rent a Valletta property from former Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi while she chaired Identità, an agency within the same ministerial portfolio, The Shift can reveal.

The former Labour MEP and the government did not respond to The Shift’s questions about the arrangement, leaving the lease’s duration, annual rental cost and selection process unexplained, apart from the gross conflict of interest and possible nepotism.

According to data published in the government gazette, Byron Camilleri’s Ministry for Home Affairs, Security and Employment was the contracting authority leasing the property in 2025 from the “Hon Marlene Mizzi”. The data records an award dated 27 May 2025 for the leasing of Block 28, Flat 19, Vincenti Buildings, Strait Street, Valletta.

The stated contract value is €53,299.99 excluding VAT, but the notice does not specify whether this covers one year or a longer period.

The award came exactly one year after Marlene Mizzi’s appointment as Identità chairperson took place in May 2024.

Byron Camilleri held the Home Affairs portfolio at the time of both decisions.

Although awarded in May 2025, data on the contentious lease was only published last June, more than a year later.

Research by The Shift shows that the premises is being used by the government’s Data Protection and Information Coordination Directorate, which handles data-protection and Freedom of Information work and now falls under the Justice Ministry.

The Shift asked the Justice Ministry to confirm the arrangement, identify the premises’ use, disclose the lease duration and annual value, and explain why a direct order was used instead of a tender. No reply was provided.

Marlene Mizzi was separately asked about the rental amount, contract duration and selection process, and whether the arrangement involved favouritism given her family’s public appointments and her being a former Labour MEP. She did not reply.

The lease adds a commercial relationship to the family’s public and political roles.

Mizzi’s husband, former judge Antonio Mizzi, and their daughter Alexandra chaired three boards within Byron Camilleri’s portfolio during the past years, all paid separately.

While Marlene Mizzi chairs Identità, Byron Camilleri appointed Antonio Mizzi to chair the Parole Board, and Alexandra Mizzi was appointed chair of the Citizenship by Merit recommendation board.

Marlene Mizzi also held the linked chairmanship of Malta Electronic Certification Services, a subsidiary of Identita ’, and a directorship at KM Malta Airlines.

The published lease notice does not identify the individual who approved the award or explain how the property and price were assessed.