Kamla: Is there a plan to remove Auditor General?

OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is questioning whether the government has a plan to remove Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass from office.

At the United National Congress (UNC) cottage meeting at the Penal Secondary School on May 20, Persad-Bissessar weighed in on the controversy between Ramdass and Finance Minister Colm Imbert over the $2.6 billion revenue understatement in the 2023 public financial accounts.

An independent investigation is being undertaken in this matter, which is also the subject of legal action.

Persad-Bissessar told supporters there is a formula for removing an Auditor General by way of a tribunal appointed by the President to investigate the office-holder, in this case Ramdass.

Using the firing of former Central Bank governor Jwala Rambaran by an acting president when the bona-fide President was abroad, she drew a parallel with what is happening at present.

She noted President Christine Kangaloo is out of the country and there is an acting President, who happens to be the Senate President.

“I am just asking for a friend: is this the plan, Mr Prime Minister? Is it your government’s plan? Is it true this is your plan?

“I am asking for the people of this country.

“You have been hounding the poor woman out of office after she stood up and maintained her independence against you.

“I warn you tonight, and we ask, is this the government’s wicked plan to get rid of an independent officer?”

Oropouche West MP Dave Tancoo reminded the audience that the office of the Auditor General is an independent institution under the Constitution and should be free from any interference from any politician.

He said she did her job of doing an independent audit of all revenue and expenditure by the state and found that expenditure was not supported by documents. Now that she has raised red flags, he said, she was being persecuted.

The Prime Minister has said this controversy was an "unnecessary bacchanal," to which Persad-Bissessar replied that it could have been avoided and saved taxpayers millions had government heeded her advice and requested a special report.

Playing a clip from Parliament, she declared, “I warned then, and that dunce Attorney General misadvised them. Them big senior counsel, eat-ah-food lawyers they hired to write the Auditor General a pre-action letter, they too gave the wrong advice and said bring a motion to extend the time, when all they had to do was lay that big, fat report they finished and go for a further time for a special report.”

The Government brought a motion to extend the deadline for the laying of the Auditor General's report.

Persad-Bissessar said the law provided for the action she proposed and accused Imbert of "backing back" and backing down, as he has decided to forego legal action against the Auditor General and agree to a special report.

“You know what 'forego' means? He is not doing it. I told you so, I told you so,” she gloated.

She went through the controversial report, which showed substantial borrowings of $12.5 billion in fiscal 2023, a total borrowing of $58 billion since 2019 and budget deficits of $20 billion.

“Can the government say it is doing well, if you have to borrow $12.5 billion in one year? If you have to borrow $58 billion, are you doing well?” she asked, referring to a book she used as a university lecturer called How to Lie with Statistics.

“So they pelt us with these statistics, lies, damn lies, but they are borrowing money to pay wages.

“I told you before, the country is broke. They are running on credit. They have borrowed money, spent it badly, corrupted it. They spent $69 billion, but have nothing to show of it.

“Be careful what work you do for this government, because they don’t have the money to pay you,” she cautioned.