PNC condemns 'collusion' against Auditor General's office
The PNC has condemned what it terms collusion between the World Bank and the Ministry of Finance to "further marginalise and de-emphasise" the work of the Auditor General's office. A press statement from the party said the effort by the two agencies was aimed at undermining the capacity of the audit office to effectively discharge its constitutional functions. "Bharrat Jagdeo and World Bank Director, Orsalia Kalantzopoulous, are scheming in an attempt to hide their real motive of circumventing the powers of the Auditor General to audit public sector projects that are financed by the International Development Association (IDA)," the PNC stated. Kalantzopoulous and Jagdeo recently shared concern about the auditing of public sector projects and the former wrote to the latter on the issue of having private auditing firms retained to conduct the audit of the IDA projects. She said this would be an interim mechanism until the Auditor General's office is strengthened, and the World Bank was willing to provide support. The World Bank director in the letter, said the Audit Department's work was unsatisfactory but a source told Stabroek News that the department was not briefed on the bank's guidelines when it first advised on how the Public Administration Project accounts should be drawn up. However, since then, the department reportedly made all efforts to ensure that the guidelines were met in its auditing, but the World Bank still attempted to find fault with the work until about a year ago when the bickering stopped. Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran, withdrew his unqualified opinion on the Essequibo Coast Road programme last year and this caused the bank and the government some embarrassment. This led to a renewed attempt to remove the audit office as auditors of the World Bank projects with first, the El Nino Emergency Assistance Fund being taken away from the office. Kalanzopoulos was seeking to have a private firm hired to do this audit. The PNC, however, said Article 223 of the Constitution of Guyana requires that all public accounts be audited by the Auditor General's Department and noted that World Bank-funded projects are loans to the government which must be repaid by the citizens of Guyana. "Corruption in government in relation to the use of World Bank funds could not be effectively investigated by private auditors. They lack the authority to summon and interrogate officials and related parties as conferred on the Auditor General under the Financial Administration and Audit Acts," the PNC stated. The party also contended that the Auditor General has a thorough knowledge of the weaknesses in the financial operations of the government and the requisite remedial action. The party also said that the Auditor General has the authority to recruit expertise required from the rest of the public service and if need be, the private sector. "The government has a duty and responsibility to provide the audit office with the resources needed to enable the Auditor General to effectively and efficiently execute his constitutional and statutory mandates," the statement furthered. But a private analyst also noted that private auditors do not have a responsibility to parliament as the Auditor General does and pointed out that the independence of private firms may well be compromised by the handsome audit fees that they are likely to accrue if they are reappointed. It was also pointed out that some private firms have a tendency of aligning themselves closely to the government of the day in the hope of obtaining government contracts and will lack objectivity. "Despite the severe staff shortages in the audit office, the existing staff profile is superior to that of any of the private auditing firms," the source said. The source also said that corruption in government in relation to World Bank funds, which is viewed with concern by the bank, could not be effectively investigated by private firms which lack authority in the government sector. The source also stated that World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, views the international organisation of supreme audit institutions as important partners in the audit of its projects. 
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