Dear Editor,
The 2015 Auditor General’s Report highlighted the continual violation of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, 2003 (FMA) by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The GRA is in the habit of pointing fingers at all and sundry – especially members of the private sector – regarding their alleged violating the law; but when it comes to their own internal transgressions, they make a determined attempt to spin the truth.
On Page 47 of the 2015 Auditor General’s Report, it reveals that the last GRA Report laid in Parliament was the 2014 Report. I enquired and found that the 2015 Report is still to be laid in Parliament. This is a total violation of the law, which clearly states, in Article 74 of the FMA, that nine (9) months after the closure of the year, the financial statement of all of these entities should be presented to Parliament. So where is the GRA’s Annual Report for 2015?
These acts of the GRA – proverbially trying to paint their own grave white in order to make it look good compared to others – have set a dangerous precedent, because the GRA continues to fail to acknowledge that it has lots of skeletons in its own closet; exposing the hypocrisy of the leadership of that agency.
Organizations like the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Guyana, and the GRA ought to be the gold standard on public financial behaviour. To the credit of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Guyana, they have published their financial statement for 2016 and continue to meet their statutory publication of data. The GRA, on the other hand, is still to publish its 2015 and 2016 financial statements. This state of affair exposes the lack of focus on accountability at the highest levels in the GRA, and Mr Statia has to be held accountable for this transgression.
I am calling upon the Minister to read the Riot Act to the management of the GRA, so that agency can make right by the people. Further, civil society — especially the Private Sector Commission, should raise this as an agenda item for the next meeting with the Minister.
Based on the information coming out of GRA of late, there seems to be a lot of financial skullduggery in that agency.
Sincerely,
Sase Singh, MSc
– Finance, ACCA
