The Office of the Auditor General will soon be strengthened with the capacity to go after those involved in robbing the State. While the Audit Act of 2004 provides for the imprisonment of errant contractors and public officers for up to five years, the relevant clauses have never been invoked.
Yesterday, after he handed over his report on public spending for 2024, Auditor General, Deodat Sharma said that while improvements have been seen in public spending, much more effort is needed to bring it up to standard. He said that with its limited resources, his office is doing the best it could to secure transparency and accountability in public spending.
Sharma however noted that he needs more human resources on several fronts including for the oil and gas unit. Man power is also needed to boost the enforcement capacity of his office.
Speaking to Guyana Standard, Sharma said that anyone, public officers and contractors alike, who lies to his office or fail to provide required information, can face jail time. However, to make this enforceable he needs legal officers on his team. To that end, Sharma said moves are already afoot.
Further, he said his office is already working closely with the Finance Secretary to send some cases to the “responsible authority.”
