The Coalition needs to man up to its promise to fight corruption

Nov 20, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
On Friday November 10 a few items in the Kaieteur News shone some light on a trend that should concern the public.
There were “Auditor General points to gross misuse of project account held by MOE;” next, “Finance Ministry‘s Public debt register not in order-AG”. Also “E-Governance flagged for fuel racket”. Again, “Region 9 deducts NIS employees’ tax”.
On November 11 there were, “AG still to receive financial statement from lotto fund.” Next, “Manipulation of gold board records-staffers sent home”. Is this just all routine occurrence?
I saw no pronouncement by the government over the weekend that the public purse “had a bad week.” By Friday November 17, it got worse. The AG said that 14 entities under the purview of the Ministry of finance failed to produce up-to-date audited accounts to the National Assembly. As for the public, they have seen their purse torn to shreds by the previous administration.
News like the above is in the realm of trivialities in their mindset. It’s just like another day at the office! In all the news items above, the Auditor General (AG) was instrumental in revealing all, with the exception of the gold board issue.
When I read these articles with the AG’s findings and report I see a picture of the AG as a willing shepherd trying desperately to control a wayward flock. Is there gross incompetence of staff at the financial level of all these organisations? I think not.
Maybe these public servants, having been indoctrinated in corruption by the PPP and now having seen the Coalition Government giving themselves a 50% increase on their already huge salaries, while giving them (public servants) 2 to 8% and extending VAT on water, power and all the consumables that did not attract VAT previously, are finding ways to catch up.
In all six articles, it is evident that state assets (monies) were misappropriated, not properly accounted for or not accounted for in a timely manner. What is SARA doing? It will serve the Coalition well to take SARA off what seems like an archeological treasure hunt and unleash it on these seemingly small creatures with fresh scent for several reasons.
(1) SARA seems clueless. These small cases will help SARA to build capacity. What SARA needs for a start is a tiny conviction to set a precedent.
(2) SARA investigating these cases and laying charges will act as a deterrent to would-be perpetrators on the state’s purse- it would be a feather in the Coalition’s cap, since it would be perceived to be fighting corruption. SARA would lose the stigma of being a witch-hunting organisation.
The Auditor General needs to be empowered and adopt a no-nonsense approach. Failure to submit audited reports on time should be viewed as a dereliction of duty and result in heavy monetary deductions from salaries of those responsible.
The AG’s office should work in close collaboration with SARA. SARA’s mandate should be extended to prosecute public servants for financial impropriety of state funds-these should be saddled with heavy penalties. It is time for the Coalition to MAN UP to its promise to fight corruption.
Rudolph Singh

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