The AFC will seek to have the appointments of the 11 staffers of the Auditor General’s department rescinded, the party’s Chairman, Khemraj Ramjattan has said.
He told Stabroek News that the decision at the last meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament could have far reaching consequences for other parliamentary committees. He said that the AFC felt that there was a flawed interpretation of the Standing Orders that saw the PPP/C members on the National Assembly’s PAC taking advantage of the absence of an opposition MP, to forced through the appointment of 11 staffers of the Auditor General’s Department, including the wife of Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh on June 25.
APNU later called the actions of the governing party “unprincipled,” while saying that it is likely to “undermine the integrity” of the work of the Auditor General’s office. The government and opposition members of the PAC had previously been split on the appointments, which were proposed by acting Auditor General Deodat Sharma. In particular, opposition members charged that the promotion to Audit Director of Gitanjali Singh, the wife of the Finance Minister, would present a conflict of interest, given the potential responsibilities that go with her post. A Commonwealth parliamentarian visiting Guyana recently expressed surprise that the wife of the Minister of Finance was employed in the Audit Office, which is responsible for the audit of the country’s public accounts.
Ramjattan told Stabroek News that the AFC representative will raise the matter at the next meeting of the PAC and he urged that the PAC “right this wrong.”
