(Part 11)
Commonsense would seem to dictate that public accountability, based on state audit, should apply to all forms of expenditure, irrespective of how or where they are incurred…It makes little sense to study carefully and continuously the payments which are made through the front door while being obliged to turn a blind eye to the expenditure – which nowadays are often equally large in total – taking place via the back door. Indeed the “back-door’ payments are probably in greater need of close surveillance, and more likely to reveal anomalies, questionable policies and transactions…Many big fish, heavily nourished from taxation, swim through unscathed, and their transactions are not systematically studied, except by auditors with no constitutional reporting role…hence the gaps in the front of public accountability are almost totally undefended…In all of this, the interest of the taxpayer, who foots the bill, is often forgotten.
Normanton (1981)
Last week, we began a series of articles on the Auditor General’s report on the audit of the public accounts of Guyana and the accounts of ministries/departments/regions for 2012. We commenced with a review of the overall audit opinion on these statements. This is a certificate that must be prepared with the utmost degree of care in conformity with international standards, and the conclusions arrived at
