Accountability and transparency: Are they still important in Guyana?

Accountability is the greatest measure of achievement; it is how people assess honesty, genuine labour and of course, forward planning. The aspect of honesty is judged when one examines the labour and finds it fitting for the expenditure; it is when lending agencies make money available for a project and they see that the project is well executed and at reasonable cost. In cases where there is no accountability problems arise; there are charges of corruption and people are sometimes prosecuted. In various parts of the world there are many influential persons who cannot account for many things, not least among them, how they earn their money. For example, in the United States where the investigators find it difficult to prove that the earnings are above board they simply look to see if the taxes were duly paid. If there are no corresponding taxes, then the earner goes to jail on charges of tax evasion. The need for accountability cannot be over-emphasised. In schools, teachers have to be accountable for the time they spend with their children. One measure of accountability would be the examinations. When children sit exams they are in fact being asked to test the teachers. There is the adage that a teacher has not taught until a child has learnt. The child is the one who tests the accountability of the teacher, because the teacher influences the performance of the child. At the national level, there has been much talk about a procurement committee. This committee must examine details of proposed expenditure. It has the power to negate contracts if there is a weakness in some of the arrangements that do not allow or offer proper accountability. These days, there are numerous questions about things financial. In fact, each year that there is a budget presentation there are numerous queries. People question certain expenditures and as if that is not enough, there is a parliamentary committee that examines the various accounts. Heads of departments and Government Ministers who preside over the economy are made to answer before this parliamentary committee. More often than not the head of the parliamentary committee would say that many of the answers are incomplete. There are sometimes more questions than answers; hence, the issue of accountability arises. People want to know how their money is spent and the government is accountable. Accountability is crucial in any area of national life. The previous administration was accused of ignoring all the rules and regulations concerning public expenditure. This sparked charges of widespread corruption. No one was ever prosecuted. The trend continues today and allegations of the government refusing to be accountable for public funds are again the norm. Earlier this year, Kaieteur News reported that assets were being wasted and not enough was being done to prevent fraud in the national accounting system. It was highlighted that the Ministry of Finance had failed to implement two of seven modules it had acquired for the costly, but necessary, Integrated Financial Management Accounting System (IFMAS). A lengthy press conference was held by Government to explain why the entire $132M package was not being used. There was the puzzling claim that the two modules not implemented are for a more mature environment, this despite the fact that the system was specially tailored to suit this country’s needs. This newspaper was never convinced with the government’s explanation, and a senior officer of the Canadian company that designed the IFMAS provided even more food for thought when he said that the system has been implemented in countries “with a far less mature environment than Guyana has”. Noteworthy was the expert’s view that there is absolutely no need to keep physical receipts as this would “defeat the purpose of having the system”, because “the IFMAS was not designed to be backed by a manual system but to replace it. The whole purpose of the IFMAS is to replace manual systems with automation for accountability and transparency.” Maybe those things aren’t important any longer in Guyana.