Unapproved Govt. spending… Chief Justice cannot authorize Minister to spend from Coffers - Greenidge

Unapproved Govt. spending… Chief Justice cannot authorize Minister to spend from Coffers – Greenidge

Jun 21, 2014 News

The Constitution of Guyana is clear when it comes to how Government can spend monies from the National coffers.
This is according to A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) Chief Financial Spokesperson, Carl Greenidge, who,

APNU’s Carl Greenidge

following a pronouncement by Government this past week said, that there are constitutional grounds for its course of action as well as court rulings,”If the Government intends to act constitutionally their options are clear.”
Greenidge, himself a former Finance Minister said that Article 217 of the Constitution states that monies may only be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund in three circumstances: if the Constitution requires it, if the Appropriation Act requires it or if the Appropriation Act is not yet in place.
“I see no mention of the Judiciary or the Chief Justice,” said Greenidge.
He pointed to the fact that nowhere in that Article of the Constitution is there mention of the Courts, let alone the Chief Justice (CJ), directly authorizing the Minister of Finance to spend, let alone restore what the House has not approved.
According to Greenidge, “The CJ’s decision that is so lovingly cited by Dr. (Roger) Luncheon actually makes reference to resort to the Contingencies Fund or Supplementary Paper.”
The CJ stated that he could not instruct their use nor can he authorize the Ministry of Finance to use criteria not mentioned in the Constitution or the Act.
According to Greenidge, withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund cannot be directed by the CJ.
Greenidge was adamant that no judicial ruling exists which authorizes the Minister of Finance to withdraw funds without reference to the National Assembly.
The Minister of Finance may, in keeping with Article 220(1) make advances from the Contingencies Fund to meet expenditures for which “there is an urgent need for expenditure for which no other provision exists.”
He said that the Assembly can then decide on whether to agree to the request.
“If as is now common, the Government spends without justifiable cause and then is unable to secure the approval of the Assembly, the fund cannot be replenished.”
According to Greenidge, “the Minister should make good the shortfall because the arrangement for access to the Fund assumes that the Minister adheres to the criteria set out in the Constitution and the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA).
Greenidge said that Act speaks to “urgent, unavoidable and unforeseen.”
He said too that the Auditor General (AG) has for the last decade pointed out that the Minister has been engaged in ’serial abuse‘ of the fund meaning that he has been spending on activities or in circumstances not approved under the law.
“The AG actually lists the cases in his annual reports…The National Assembly which would have looked at these expenditures without the advice of the AG or an Office of the Budget (a facility sought but not approved) has itself been at pains over the years to emphasise that it was in many cases of the same opinion.”
He said that the Hansard reports attest to this and as a consequence many requests have not been approved so the Fund has not been replenished for these cases.
According to Greenidge, “the Minister has paid no price for his flouting of the law and Constitution.”
On Thursday last, the Minister of Finance Ashni Singh submitted a Statement of Excess to the National Assembly, outlining that Government has spent more than $4.5B of the $31B that the Opposition had disapproved.
The move was a departure from an announcement made the previous day by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, who said Government would initiate an exercise to restore the money that was axed from the 2014 Budget.

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