IMPACT ON GUYANA

Guyana's President says public officials found corrupt will be prosecuted

Following the release two weeks ago of the 2006 Auditor General’s Report, which made widespread allegations of corruption in public office, Guyana’s President, Bharrat Jagdeo has said that he would not "go lightly" on any official found guilty of corruption.

The President made this announcement during a media briefing last week at his office, adding that, while sections of the media may have taken the report out of context, he was aware of the possibility of some cases of corrupt practices in public office and he backed any move to take legal action against those found guilty.

"I agree that, where we have corruption, people should face the full brunt of the law. They should be charged, taken to court, all of that stuff; but a lot of the other part where people ascribe corrupt motives, there may be a time difference, a lag in financial transactions," the President said.

The Guyanese leader explained that some parts of the report where actions taken by public officials were ascribed as corruption may be attributed to a timing difference in clearing of accounts since the report was generated for up to December 31 annually when agencies might still be carrying on with their works.

The President said that this, coupled with the lack of knowledge by media operatives who attempted to interpret the document, could lead to a misunderstanding of the contents of the document, and noted that the country’s Finance Minister had been instructed to explain the document to the media.

The Head of State called untrue reports by some media houses that billions of dollars, which reportedly should have been paid over to the consolidated funds set up by government, were lying in dormant accounts at the country’s Central Bank, saying that it was testimony that media operatives were not able to dissect the report and understand the terminologies within.

"It is not money that you can transfer to the government and then the government spends it [in] that fiscal year. To bring them into the books is not paying over cash to the government; it is just a book entry. So again, to say [that there are] billions lying in dormant accounts creates the impression that there is money to be spent and the government is not transferring it from one dormant account into the consolidated fund because of some corrupt motive," Jagdeo explained.

Meanwhile, the President said that he was concerned that the Auditor General’s report was not tabled according to the laws of Guyana, noting that a new law allowed for the report to be put before Parliament and not the Finance Minister as was the case in the past.

"A key provision was inserted into the law that the Auditor General, when he completes his audit, must send that to the accounting officer of each ministry and they have up to one month to respond, and he has to include their response as part of his report, not to pick and choose elements of their response and incorporate into his report," said the President.

Jagdeo said, however, that despite these concerns he was happy that these issues were brought to the public’s attention and was hoping that a proper discussion could be stimulated on accountability.

The 2006 Audit Report, which was scheduled to be presented to Parliament last September, was delayed due to a staff shortage at the audit office and was instead handed over to the Speaker of the National Assembly late last month.