PARLIAMENT HAS NO POWERS TO SANCTION ANYONE IN THE AUDITOR GENERAL’S OFFICE

Nov 16, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The opposition seems destined for further self-embarrassment. They seem not to have learnt anything from the debacle they faced when the court ruled that they had no power to cut the country’s Budget.
It seems as if they are about to repeat that mistake, this time in relation to appointments within the Office of the Auditor General. The opposition does not seem to understand that the sole role of the Public Accounts Committee ( PAC) is to confirm appointments made by the Auditor General.
It is the Auditor General who makes the appointments, not the PAC. Those appointments are required to be confirmed by the PAC. As such, they can confirm or not confirm, but having confirmed there are no powers to remove the confirmation of any person so confirmed.
It is very much like the Budget. The National Assembly can approve or reject the Budget, but they cannot cut it to suit their needs.
It is a complete waste of time, therefore, for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to be investigating issues of conflict of interest within the Office of the Auditor General, because in the final analysis, the PAC cannot undo what it did in confirming the appointments which were made by the Auditor General.
The government members on the PAC were able to railroad the confirmation of the appointments at a meeting earlier this year. They were successful in doing this because one of the opposition members of the committee was not present at the time the vote was taken. The alert members noticed this and had put the matter out to a vote and used their majority to secure confirmation. These things happen and the opposition has to live with it, especially since they merely have a majority of one.
After the 1992 General and Regional Elections, the PPP was gifted with the Chairmanship of a Region, because when the time came for the vote to be taken, opposition persons were not present. After the 2006 elections, there was a deal between the PPP and the PNCR to shut the AFC out of the Chairmanship of some regions. In some areas, however, the PPP accused the PNCR of reneging of that agreement, which led to the PNCR gaining positions that it ought not to have gained. It happens.
After the last local government elections, there was reportedly some agreement between the PNC and the PPP on rotating the position of Mayor. The PPP has always contended that the PNC reneged on this agreement when the PPP’s turn came. It happens.
The PPP took advantage of the absence of an AFC member at a previous PAC meeting which considered the confirmation of appointments within the Office of the Auditor General and those persons were confirmed. Included among the lot was the wife of the Minister of Finance, over whom concerns of conflict of interest had arisen.
Any conflict of interest within the Office of the Auditor General is one for the Auditor General to address, not parliament. There is always the potential for conflict of interest in organizations and in relationships. In fact in relation to a number of issues, the government has been accusing persons within the AFC of being in positions of conflict of interest.
The Office of the Auditor General is supposed to be an independent, constitutional office, in that it should not, according to the Constitution of Guyana, be subject to direction or control of any authority – and that obviously has to include parliament.
However, the very next paragraph allows for the PAC to exercise general supervision over the Office of the Auditor General in relation to the Rules, Policies and Procedures Manual of that office. This manual is prepared by the Auditor General and required by law, under the Audit Act, to be approved by the PAC.
This, however, is not a case in which there is a contradiction in the constitution. The Auditor General is accountable to parliament, in that he is required to lay his reports to parliament, but he is not subject to the direction of parliament
His office is subject to oversight in relation to how it is managed, but to ensure that this power of oversight is not used as an excuse to interfere with the independence of the Auditor General’s office, the PAC is allowed to exercise general supervision in ensuring that the audit office is managed in accordance with laid down rules and policies as contained in a manual which is prepared by the Auditor General, and approved by the PAC. In this way the PAC exercises scrutiny without encroaching on the independence of the Auditor General’s office.
The manual is prepared by the Auditor General and confirmed by the PAC, and the PAC can only scrutinize the AG’s office in relation to what is contained in the manual.
If per chance, however, the PAC finds that there is a breach of any of the stipulations of the manual, including stipulations relating to conflict of interest, it can bring this to the attention of the Auditor General. This is all it can do.
The ball will be in the court of the Auditor General to decide what action is to be taken. He cannot be directed what to do.
Neither can the PAC undo what it has already done. It has confirmed appointments made by the Auditor General and those appointments cannot be undone by the PAC.
It is hoped that the members do not raise the hopes of their supporters that somehow the parliament can sanction anyone in the Office of the Auditor General. It has no such powers.

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