Budget 2019 will not address the instances of mismanagement and corruption

Dec 16, 2018 Letters

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Dear Editor,

As a Guyanese who has struggled most of his life-time trying to lift himself from an impoverished upbringing during the Burnham era, I would have thought that at the twilight of my life I would not be witnessing the harsh social and economic conditions I had experienced during those dark days being meted out to this young generation of Guyanese. During the 23 years of PPP governance I saw this Nation being lifted out from the quagmire of socio-economic decay and brought to prosperity. However, it seems that Guyanese like myself, have traversed the full circle!
When I looked at the thousands of qualified young persons who are jobless I conclude that it is not because Guyana cannot afford them one but simply because this Government is bent on ‘robbing’ them of a good life which is quite achievable if the political honesty and will to do so are present. The four Budgets presented since 2015 have expended over $ 1 trillion but conservatively nearly 25% would have been unaccounted for, mismanaged and stolen! If the full value for money was achieved then Guyanese would have been guaranteed this elusive ‘good life’ mantra.
When this Government took over in 2015, they presented their first Budget which spoke loftily about the corruption under the previous PPP/C Government and there were 4 subsections dealing with good governance. These were: Forensic Audits and Asset Recovery, Accounting System, Internal Auditing and External Auditing.
At this time, the Finance Minister, Mr Winston Jordan attempted to convince Guyanese that, ‘the Government is committed to governing in a transparent, efficient, inclusive and decisive manner, paying due regard to respecting and upholding the rule of law and the rights of all the citizens of Guyana. The Government will seek to re-establish the pillars and tenets of good governance by placing particular emphasis on the strengthening of governance institutions’ and he further stated that, ‘The Government believes that we need to throw open the doors of public bodies so that they can become more accountable. This will help to deliver better value for money in public spending’. He had then lambasted the previous Government about, ‘allegations and evidence of corruption and bad governance’. He miserably failed in this quest since the ‘doors of public bodies’ are now open to unprecedented corruption!
However, he grossly underestimated the acumen of the Guyanese people. His whitewashing which has now become his trademark delivery did not fool anyone since just three weeks after being in office they gave themselves increase in travelling allowances a few months later they had given themselves over 50% salary increases so at arrest the temptation to raid and pillage the treasury! But alas! Exactly the opposite happened. This undeserved increase was accompanied by massive squandermania and thievery- an innate characteristic of the PNC. This definitely was not in the First 100 Days Plan in the Coalition’s manifesto!
However, in the succeeding years the Finance Minister in his Budget presentation saw it fit to increasingly pay less emphasis on forensic audits and asset recovery, the accounting system, internal auditing and external auditing. He became like the proverbial ostrich and silently denied that these even exist, and more urgently now than ever before a dire need for these. He now wants to convince Guyanese that there is now a high level transparency and accountability. However, the Auditor General’s Report 2017 and the 2019 Budget debate exposed the skyrocketed levels of corruption and naked undiluted thievery which now exists at all levels of Government.
In the Finance Minister’s 2016 Budget speech he admitted to ‘acts of dishonesty and duplicity, mismanagement of resources, opaqueness of transactions and a disregard for basic internal controls, among others…absence or non-existence of functioning Internal Audit Departments. The Audits identified many instances where the laws governing the entities and their operations were violated with impunity, in particular the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act and the Procurement Act’. Unfortunately, this horrendously sad state of affairs have permeated and eaten at each and every stratum of Government agencies and departments. It now appears as though there is a ‘license to steal’! The Auditor General’s Report 2017 has confirmed this and yet in the 2019 Budget Speech there is no material plan to ensure that the $300.7 billion will result in value for money for the masses which will now have to bear a huge tax burden of $199.5 billion an increase of $28.3 billion more than 2017, an average increase of 23% in withholding, excise, income and value-added taxes!
It is now conclusive that Budget 2019 will not address the hordes of instances of mismanagement, allegedly fraudulent and corrupt transactions highlighted in the Auditor General’s Report as the national budgets continue to haemorrhage uncontrollably due to the lack of transparency and accountability. This Coalition Government wants us to believe that corruption no longer exists!

In conclusion, Minister Jordan himself gave a vivid account of Guyanese expectations in his 2019 Budget speech. He stated that when ‘one contemplates the transformation of Guyana’s economy, one conjures up many images of our future. At a minimum, one thinks of every family being able to afford a healthy lifestyle, with all the basic needs of sustenance, shelter and education being met, and all this being achieved within sustainable communities, where environmental responsibility and personal safety are paramount. Together, these images combine to create a desirable collage, and that is just the beginning’. However, he failed to deliver this ‘desirable collage’ not only through his poor budgetary allocations but by his willful neglect to adequately address the deficiencies in the internal auditing and control systems to ensure that Guyanese can have value for money! The transparency and accountability mantra is now dead!

Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf (RDC Councilor- Region 6)

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