General Secretary, Treasurer sights corrupt practices by AAG President

Jul 01, 2022 Sports

– No submission of Financial Statement since 2017
– AGM overdue by 5 months

The operations of President of the Athletics Association of Guyana, Aubrey Hutson, have been brought under the microscope following a four page letter addressed to the President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), K.A Juman Yassin, which Kaieteur Sport was able to peruse.
It was presented by two senior AAG officials and copied to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Honourable Charles Ramson, Director of Sport – Steve Ninvalle, President of South American Confederation – Helio Marinho Gesta de Melo and President of World Athletics – AAG’s Executive Council, Sebastian Coe.The letter was a rebuttal on the subject, “Request for support in improving governance mechanisms at the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG)”. The other two titles of the letter were ‘Financial Accountability and Transparency of the AAG’ and ‘Lack of Accountability, Governance, and Transparency’.
It began: “We wish to highlight several concerns and issues facing the AAG and its operations, which we believe have had and continue to have adverse effects on the development of the sport in Guyana. The AAG is in a crisis and it requires urgent interventions to restore its integrity and credibility as well as its public trust, which have been eroded.”
After that, the letter addressed its first issue, ‘Financial Accountability and Transparency of the AAG’.
In June 2021 the AGG held its election and installed a new Executive Council. On that council, Hutson has been performing the duties of the Treasurer since the previous administration and has never provided an audited financial statement to the AGM, according to the document. He performed the duties of the Treasurer due to his failure to have the accounts of the association audited.
Article 13 (2) of the AAG’s Constitution requires the Treasurer to present an audited statement of accounts to the affiliates and members 7 days prior to the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
It was further disclosed that: “at AGMs he (Hutson) would produce a generic 2-page document (P&L statement and a balance sheet which are produced by him) and an Auditor signs the document on the spot. This Auditor is always late for another engagement, and cannot be taken to task over the financial matters of the Association. In the past, he has had a very senior person in the sporting and academic fraternity making a mockery of the membership. This individual posed as an Auditor at an AGM and purported to have conducted an audit of the AAG’s accounts. Section 170 of the Companies Act 1991 clearly outlines the requirements and qualifications of an Auditor. Finance remains a sore point for the Association.”
The document went on to say the AAG President’s transparency on the Association’s account is very questionable. Owing to the fact that he is a businessman and accounting should be no stranger to him, the AAG President claims to have presented an audited financial statement to the membership at the AGM then he clearly states that there is no such account while preparing the Association’s 2020 Annual Report to World Athletics.
“This is the case because the World body will request a copy of the audited financial statements if he claims one was done. This is evidence that he knows very well what he is doing and he carefully chooses his act according to the audience,” the letter revealed.
Hutson further promised the entire membership of the AGM that they will meet to discuss the financial standing of the association, which has not been done to date.
The revelation continued to outline the wayward acts by the AAG President against the constitution of his association which includes failing to inform members of the council about the Association’s account balance, non-accountability of financial transactions he undertakes unless they are done publicly among others and refusal to facilitate the Treasurer as a signatory to accounts, despite numerous requests.
“More, recently, the treasurer was able to obtain a commitment from Christopher Ram to undertake an audit of the accounts at no cost to the association. Hutson has frustrated the process of commencement of the audit to the point where Mr. Ram has refused to conduct the audit,” it said.
It continued, “It is also very worrisome that Mr. Hutson allegedly borrows monies from his business to pay forward or underwrite expenses of the AAG and repays himself without the knowledge and/or approval of the Executive Council. This has been going on for years. In fact, it is something he usually boasts about. In the absence of consultation and approval, this practice creates a conducive environment for massive corruption, as the Council is unaware of the revenues and expenditures of the AAG.”
In the final section labelled ‘Lack of Accountability, Governance and Transparency, more troubling issues were revealed which included reports of bias in selecting athletes and coaches to represent Guyana, exclusion of Council members from the decision-making processes, criteria bypass for coaches that are close friends and the refusal to erect a national selection policy.
Added to that, Hutson controls everything; “The AAG’s official office is hosted within the building of Mr. Hutson’s private business. The association’s records cannot be easily accessed. Meeting times and durations are subject to his availability. For example, an emergency meeting was held on June 20, 2022. The General Secretary provided an agenda for the meeting. At a certain point, Mr. Hutson declared the meeting adjourned because he had to leave, thereby leaving several important matters hanging.”
“Article 8 (1) of the AAG’s Constitution requires an AGM to be held in December but no later than the 31st of January of the following year. It is midyear and Mr. Hutson cannot discuss with the Council, preparations for an AGM. Therein lies yet another constitutional breach. Several coaches and club executives are asking about this long overdue AGM along with the audited financial statements.”
In closing, the letter made the expected request for a kind intervention along with three other requests which are: urgent financial support to conduct an audit of the AAG, Only Decisions coming the Association’s official email to be considered valid and an available office space to run the affairs of the Association.