Former Public Services Association head Clyde Weatherhead is criticising the internal probe ordered by Minister of Finance Colm Imbert into the 2023 public accounts fiasco.
Weatherhead weighed in on the imbroglio on CNC3’s The Morning Brew yesterday, saying the impasse between Imbert, Attorney General Reginald Armour, and Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass should never have descended into pre-action protocol letters and lawsuits.
His comment came a day after Ramdass sent a second pre-action protocol letter to Imbert, demanding that he cancel the investigation into what led to the understatement of $2.6 billion in the Auditor General’s 2023 report.
This follows Ramdass’ first pre-action letter on April 28 accusing the Ministry of Finance of attempting to backdate the disputed accounts—a claim Imbert has denied. She also took umbrage with both Imbert’s and Armour’s public comments on the matter.
Commenting on the public spat, Weatherhead insisted that this raises questions about proper governance, as he accused both Imbert and Armour of “walking dangerously close” to directing an independent officeholder.
He was speaking specifically to Imbert’s request that Ramdass update the accounts during the imbroglio. Imbert told Parliament about the underreported funds on April 26, noting that Ramdass initially declined to accept the accounts, revised her decision and still did not update her figures.
Furthermore, when Ramdass asked the Attorney General for a legal opinion on Sections 24 and 25 of the Exchequer and Audit Act which speaks to the timeline for the Auditor General to receive accounts from the Treasury, and what happens in place of that, he told her he could not advise her since he was already instructing the Finance Minister in the matter.
Weatherhead views this as meddling.
“The Constitution, when it says that office is independent, it says that the Auditor General is not to be directed by anybody, any human being or any institution in the performance of her constitutional duties. So, at that point they were walking that dangerous line,” he said.
“If the AG received a request for an opinion on the law, why he didn’t simply say ‘Well look, I’m advising the Minister of Finance, why don’t we sit and discuss the law?’ Or provide them with separate opinions?”
He said this incident had sparked mistrust among the population over the nation’s finances and suggested that the President should have ordered the probe.
“When you talk about white-collar crime, here’s the Minister of Finance saying he now has an internal investigation into an audit which is ongoing because he extended the time by carrying a motion to Parliament. With that extended time the audit is continuing, so how are you investigating an audit? How are you auditing an audit?” he quipped.
“And he says this is an internal investigation. First of all, you’re using external people. Secondly, you are investigating the Central Bank because you want to know, in terms of reference, how did this problem arise with the Central Bank, which you say is what caused the understatement of the revenue. You want to investigate the officers of your own ministry, who you call officials, and you want to investigate the Auditor General. How is that internal? Is the Central Bank internal to your ministry? Is the Auditor General internal to your ministry? It is the President, who appoints these people, who must establish a tribunal, not the Minister of Finance and the Cabinet.”
Last week, former Central Bank governor Winston Dookeran also said he was not in support of the probe and noted that this imbroglio had caused mistrust among the population about the country’s financial management. He added that there was also a misunderstanding among those involved as it relates to their respective roles and functions.
Contacted for comment on the latest pre-action protocol letter from Ramdass yesterday, Imbert noted that the matter was before the court and therefore he could not comment.
Meanwhile, Public Service Commission (PSC) chairman Winston Rudder said he was out of the country for personal reasons and could not respond at this time.
Both the Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the Auditor General have argued that the PSC is the only agency authorised to investigate the fiasco.