Senior Reporter
jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt
President of the Assembly of Southern Lawyers Saira Lakhan supports Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass’ request for the state to pay for her private attorneys as she threatens to take legal action against the Minister of Finance.
Lakhan said she agrees with Attorney General Reginald Armour that Ramdass should not only retain private attorneys but that the state should pay for it.
“The Auditor General is an independent watchdog over the government. Her role is to audit the national accounts of the country to ensure that the figures can be verified and reconciled. The present controversy is one that the Attorney General himself recognised posed a serious challenge because he had already advised the Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert and hence could not also render advice to the independent Auditor General,” she said in a media release yesterday.
On Monday, a motion to extend the reporting period for the Auditor General to examine the state’s account was passed after all but one of the nine Independent Senators sided with the government. The extension was sought after Ramdass initially refused to add late financials in her reporting.
On April 17, a day after receiving a pre-action letter from the Ministry of Finance over issues on the auditing of the Government’s accounts, Ramdass wrote to Armour seeking a legal opinion on Sections 24 and 25 of the Exchequer and Audit Act, Chapter 69:01. On April 19, Armour responded that he was already advising the Minister of Finance on the matter and could not accede to her request.
Five days later, on April 24, Ramdass completed the 2023 accounts which she submitted to the Ministry of Finance. However, she qualified the report with a disclaimer and an addendum on the accounts, including that $780,499,791.27 of revenue could not be accounted for.
Instead of laying the report in Parliament, Imbert sought an extension. Ramdass has since threatened to sue Imbert and Armour for what she claimed were erroneous statements made against her.
Lakhan said as a state official the Auditor General’s legal fees should be handled by the state.
“It stands to reason that if the Attorney General is going to sue her, there must be equality of arms and she is entitled to defend herself. This is an official matter and therefore the state should properly pick up the tab.”