The Auditor General should be fully protected from political interference or any form of legal action, given the nature of his job and his responsibilities to the people of Barbados.
Leader of the Alliance Party for Progress (APP) Bishop Joseph Atherley expressed that view as he has called for legislation to be enacted to protect that individual from being hauled before the courts in relation to information disclosed in any Auditor General Report.
His comments in an interview with Barbados TODAY came just three days after Director of Finance and Economic Affairs Ian Carrington responded to several concerns raised by Auditor General Leigh Trotman in his 2020 report.
Atherley noted that on at least one occasion, civil action had been taken against the Auditor General based on information in a report.
“I, as former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), have seen what has come before us, and again looking at what the Auditor General has said and the replies made in Parliament, I think we need to make sure that we insulate the Office of the Auditor General from any potential for political interference. I think Mr Trotman and his staff have been doing a fantastic job.
“There are some in the public sector who may feel that their interest may be held up to question or even threatened by the work of the Auditor General’s Office. I think that work is sufficiently important that we should try our very best that, legislatively, that office is insulated from any kind of political interference or obstruction,” Atherley told Barbados TODAY.
“I want to join Mr Trotman in his call for legislation to protect the Auditor General from civil action in the courts of Barbados.”
Atherley, the country’s last Opposition Leader, pointed out that one of the last matters the PAC intended to hear related to $1.5 million not properly accounted for with respect to the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), but that was blocked by court action.
“One of the obstructions and impediments to our progress was that legal action was being undertaken by one of the principals against the office of the Auditor General with respect to the report in relation to the BWA. This should not be allowed to happen,” the APP leader insisted.
“Those reports are tendered to Parliament and I think they are, significantly so, the people’s business and if an audit is done the report must be written up as the evidence would suggest. So I am calling for there to be legislation to ensure that the Office of the Auditor General and the reports that they submit to the Parliament of Barbados are shielded from civil action in the courts.”
Atherley said a regulatory framework was also needed to ensure that Government departments were not allowed to frustrate the Auditor General’s efforts to provide proper accounting to the public.
Additionally, he said, the proposed establishment of an Internal Audit Department (IAD) to improve efficiency and transparency should not be used to “sidestep” the Auditor General’s Office.
“At the end of the day, this is what the people of Barbados rely upon to get properly certified information as to how Government accounts are being managed,” Atherley said.
Last week, in responding to the Auditor General’s latest report, Government stated that an IAD would be established in the next fiscal year.
It said the new department would be expected to increase “public confidence” in the management of the country’s financial affairs.
