Cabinet interfering with Audit Office conflict of interest investigation
- Chris Ram
Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram has described Cabinet Secretary, Roger Luncheon, as a moniker “politician” who can hardly exempt or justify careless and untruthful speech, particularly when making serious allegations about others. At a recent press conference, Dr. Luncheon had accused Ram along with Ronald Ali and Anand Goolsarran of being engaged in a ploy that is orchestrated against Geetanjali Singh, the wife of Finance Minister Ashni Singh. Singh is the Audit Director of the Audit Office of Guyana.
Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram
According to Ram, Dr. Luncheon should be aware that a formal complaint was lodged with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana (ICAG) by Robert McRae, a partner of Ram & McRae, alleging a “conflict of interest between the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Auditor General, involving Dr. Ashni Singh and his wife Gitanjali Singh.” Ram said that the complaint, which was lodged since July 9, 2012, had to name the two persons since investigations are held into the conduct of members of the Institute, not offices. Ram explained that on the same date, McRae lodged not one but two complaints with the ICAG, only one in which Mrs. Singh is named along with Dr. Singh. As it relates to Mr. Ali, Ram said that he was not aware of any statement being made by him at any time on the matter. He said that if any criticism can be directed at Mr. Ali, it is that the ICAG of which he is the President, has been unforgivably slow in pronouncing in a matter of national and professional importance falling within its functions. According to Ram the ICAG, has a duty not only to the public but also to the Singhs to rule on the complaints, since it is totally unfair to its two highly ranked members to have professional complaints hanging over their heads. He said that as for the prejudice to the investigation, it can hardly have escaped Dr. Luncheon that he and other members of the Cabinet are interfering with the investigations and in the process compromising the Audit Office. “He must realize that Cabinet is not a disinterested party and for it to attempt to pronounce on a matter involving one of its own members, is committing several improper acts – undue influence on the ICAG and on the Audit Office, as well as conflict of interest,” Ram posited. Ram asserted that it is probably Dr Luncheon’s ploy to win further loyalty from an Auditor General who owes his appointment more to the political machinations in the Public Accounts Committee than to any professional qualification or competence. “My advice to Dr. Luncheon is that rather than speak on a matter on which he is so poorly informed, he should devote his attention to fixing the billion dollar mess in which the National Insurance Scheme has found itself during his 21-year tenure as Chairman,” Ram noted. Luncheon at one of his recent press briefings had emphasized that the premature pronouncements by the trio is essentially prejudicing the outcome of ongoing investigations by professional bodies into this presumed conflict of interest situation occasioned by Geetanjali Singh’s husband being the Minister of Finance.
Dr. Roger Luncheon
In 2012, following Mrs. Singh’s appointment, Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI) called on the Head of State to remedy this situation in order to ensure good governance, greater transparency and enhanced accountability. According to Transparency Institute, the Audit Office is a public office created by the constitution and is mandated to uphold and preserve the highest standards of independence and integrity in the discharge of its constitutional functions.