—Public Accounts Committee Chairperson
The Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Volda Lawrence is hoping that the government would soon advertise to fill the vacancy of Auditor General so that the work of the Office of the Auditor General (AG) would be carried out on a more professional basis and in keeping with the constitutionality of the office.

The PAC, she said, was not satisfied with the work of the AG’s Office because of staff shortages and the fact that the entity which audited all government ministries, departments and agencies was not yet ready to advertise to have external auditors audit his office. This lack of readiness, she said, was a serious issue for Guyanese and public servants who were called on by the Auditor General to have their accounts ready for auditing when his own accounts were not ready for auditing.

On the appointment of an Auditor General, she said that the government needed to advertise to fill the position because persons acting in positions for lengthy periods may feel that they were committed to the office which was to appoint them.

The current head of the Auditor General’s Office, Deodat Sharma has been serving in an acting capacity for just over two years now. Prior to his appointment to the substantive post of Senior Deputy Auditor General and Acting Auditor General in 2006, he was an assistant auditor general.
Lawrence said that if he had the qualifications, Sharma, like others could apply for the job.
When asked at a press conference at the Office of the President on Thursday when an Auditor General would be appointed, President Bharrat Jagdeo said he was not sure when and if Sharma would be appointed to the post of Auditor General.

He said, “I am sure that the Minister of Finance would want that to happen. I am not sure when that is going to happen.”
The Minister of Finance is not responsible for the appointment of the Auditor General. According to Article 204 of the country’s constitution the Auditor General shall be appointed by the President acting in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission.

According to information coming out of the Office of the Attorney General, 86% of the senior management positions are filled by individuals in acting capacities and Lawrence told the Stabroek News that apart from some amount of dissatisfaction with the work of the Office of the Auditor General because of a shortage of staff the Public Accounts Committee was also not happy with the manner in which the Minister of Finance had treated the PAC in relation to the budget review of the Audit General’s Office.

Claiming that the Minister of Finance had not been adhering to the regulations and the amendments to the constitution which gave the Public Accounts Committee oversight of the Auditor General’s Office, particularly in relation to the budgetary allocation for the audit office, Lawrence said that the ministry had been ignoring the PAC on the issue.
She said that the audit office was required to present its budgetary proposals to the PAC for perusal and make amendments where necessary. On the approval of the budget it was then sent to the Ministry of Finance which was expected to have discourse with the Auditor General and the PAC.  Instead, she said that the finance ministry continued to call the AG to attend the budget review meeting without informing the PAC which submitted the Office of the Auditor General’s budget.

Last year, the Ministry of Finance ignored the PAC and the Audit Office’s budget was treated like all the other government agencies, in spite of its autonomy under the law.
“It was not treated as an agency which is expected to peruse the accounts of all the other government agencies and departments in this country and hence no consideration was given to the fact that the audit office was in dire need of staff,” she said.

She said that late last year the PAC had requested supplementary financing from the Ministry of Finance to cover the staffing of the office but the PAC had not had an acknowledgement of its letter from the finance ministry. No provision was made for additional staff.

Even though parliament was in recess, she said that the PAC would be meeting to peruse the Auditor General’s office budget so it could be submitted early to the Ministry of Finance. She planned once again to write the Minister of Finance to remind him that the AG’s office was an autonomous body which now fell within the ambit of the PAC. Stabroek News was unable to contact the Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh for a comment on the matters raised by Lawrence.

Lawrence told the Stabroek News that the Auditor General’s report for 2006, which had been submitted recently lacked guidance, and even though it covered the financial year 2006, it made no mention of financial dealings from then to the time the report had been submitted.

Failure to mention the Petrocaribe deal and that of Queens Atlantic Investment Inc in the reporting year 2008, she said, smacked of a lack of guidance on issues on which the Auditor General ought to comment.  Any concise Auditor General’s report she said would comment on major financial dealings that would have taken place from the audited period to the reporting period to ensure there were no financial discrepancies and breaching of the laws. (Miranda La Rose)