Georgetown : Carl Greenidge of A partnership for National Unity (APNU) was on Wednesday forced to withdraw his Parliamentary motion seeking financial emancipation for the Audit Office of Guyana after the Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh, pre-empted the demand.
Greenidge did confuse some in the House when he spoke to the motion on the financial independence of several service commissions and continuously referred to the motion on the Audit Office and its objectives in the past tense.
This was despite the fact that the motion had not been called up for debate.
It was at the time of the debate on the substantive motion on the Audit Office and the manner in which it receives money to conduct its functions that Greenidge confirmed in the House that the Finance Minister had pre-empted his demand.
Dr Ashni Singh exercising his powers as Finance Minister at the time of the presentation of the Budget had laid an order allowing for the Audit Office to draw its money directly from the Consolidated Fund en bloc.
This would allow the Head of that Agency which in this case is Auditor General (ag) Deodat Sharma to determine how the resources allocated to the Audit Office.
Greenidge’s motion had sought to call on the House to resolve to: “remove the Audit Office from the Schedule of Budget Agencies and restore it to its rightful place as an autonomous agency drawing directly on the Consolidated Fund and that these changes be reflected in the Annual Estimates to be submitted by the Minister of Finance for the approval of this.”
The APNU MP’s course of action was premised on what he calls a legislative obligation “that the Auditor General shall act independently in the discharge of his functions.”
The Opposition has for several years called the manner of allocating monies to the Audit Office as a subvention agency, a mechanism to curtail its function and independence.
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