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MMA/ADA staff dismissed for misappropriation of funds, $500k recovered – Agri. Minister
…says awaiting AG’s report on GMC audit
Kaieteur News-A staff of the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary Agricultural Development Agency (MMA/ADA) has been fired after being found guilty of misappropriating the Agency’s funds and $500,000 recovered.
This was revealed by Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha on Friday during the Consideration of Estimates and Expenditure in the National Assembly.
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha
Shadow minister of Agriculture and Opposition Member of Parliament, Vinceroy Jordan sought an update on the matter from the minister.
Jordan, through the Speaker, highlighted that the MMA/ADA is requesting $623M in the 2025 Budget but there are many unresolved issues plaguing the agency. He noted that the government has been silent on the situation at the agency despite preaching about “transparency, accountability and integrity.”
“I would like for the honourable minister to say to this House what were the actions taken by the board…and whether the staff is still within the employ of MMA?” Jordan enquired.
In response, Minister Zulfikar said, “Yes, indeed the person who were involved was fired. He was dismissed and I believe they recouped back the money, $500,000; it was recouped and the person was dismissed.”
Similarly, there have been allegations of misappropriated funds at the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (New GMC) and an internal audit was ordered by the General Manager.
Shadow Minister of Agriculture and Opposition Member of Parliament Vinceroy Jordan.
Jordan asked the agriculture minister to share the recommendations from the internal probe and inform the House what actions were taken.
“Mr. Chair, first of all, all the documents were looked at by the internal auditors and they are not at the AG’s office and so we are awaiting the report from the AG’s office,” the Minister responded.
Further probing by the shadow agriculture minister resulted in the minister disclosing that one of the two persons allegedly involved in the misappropriation of funds was still at New GMC while the other person was transferred to another agency under the ministry.
Considering the revelation, minister Zulfikar assured the National Assembly that his ministry and the agencies under it have nothing to hide and “are awaiting the findings of the AG’s Office and whatever recommendations is recommended we will implement those recommendations.”
On September 12, 2024, Kaieteur News reported that at least two staff members of the GMC were being investigated after senior management uncovered a massive fraud at the entity.
The racket involved the smuggling of chicken and eggs, among other things and General Manager of the GMC, Teshawna Lall in a statement said contrary to a press release issued by the Ministry of Agriculture under the guidance of the Minister Mustapha, the initiation of the audit and investigation was led by her.
“The internal audit was commenced by Ms. Lall and her team, after repeated requests for documentation and reports yielded no results,” Lall said.
Additionally, Ms. Lall said during the internal audit, she identified significant irregularities and discrepancies involving the accountant and the Special Projects Manager.
“Consequently, she requested an external audit through the Minister of Agriculture’s office. All relevant issues and concerns have been previously discussed with the Minister of Agriculture,” Ms. Lall detailed in her statement.
She said: “The Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) has proactively addressed the concerns of financial irregularities by starting with an internal audit and investigation. Persistent unresolved issues, despite numerous requests for clarification, necessitated a thorough review.
According to Ms. Lall, the internal audit aimed at meticulously reviewing the reported irregularities and evaluate the corporation’s financial practices.
(MMA/ADA staff dismissed for misappropriation of funds, $500k recovered – Agri. Minister)
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