Accountability Watch

Sustainable management and conservation of our forest resources

Guyana has a total area of 21 million hectares of which 18.3 million hectares, or 87%, are covered by forest.

Those honorific titles, and the need for whistleblower protection and campaign financing legislation

There was a recent letter to the editor from a former Minister who felt that the forensic audit reports should be tabled in the National Assembly and examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Lessons from Tanzania

I love Tanzania because of the light, colours and life in almost every scene.

The promised salary increases and the radio licences conundrum

Before proceeding with today’s article, two recent news items are worthy of commentary.

The Court of Appeal’s overturn of the `2012 budget cuts’ case ruling

In the introduction to last week’s article, we made brief reference to the Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn the ruling of the former acting Chief Justice on the “2012 budget cuts” case.

Revisiting IFMAS

In the last week or so, the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the death of world-renowned historian and scholar, Dr.

The accounting profession and the issue of practice certificates

There were two recent news items that are worthy of commentary from this Column since they have implications for the state of public procurement.

The accounting profession and issue of practice certificates

Last week’s article dealt briefly with the requirements for the appointment of auditors of companies.

Financial reporting and audit requirements of Government companies

The general debate on the 2016 budget is now over. It was to be confined to the financial and economic state of the country and the general principles of Government policy and administration, as outlined in the Finance Minister’s budget speech and in the Estimates.

A classic case of constitutional breach in public finance (Part II)

A former Minister accused me of being unprofessional in discussing in one of my columns the report on the forensic audit of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd (NICIL).

The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index

Corruption has disastrous impacts on development when funds that should be devoted to schools, health clinics and other vital public services are instead diverted into the hands of criminals or dishonest officials.

A classic case of constitutional breach in public finance

The Stabroek News recently carried an article which centred around a legal opinion that was given on the applicability of Article 216 of the Constitution to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd.

The budget cuts for the Audit Office and other constitutional agencies

Last week’s article completed our “stock-take” on where we stood in terms of public financial management.

Stock take on governance, transparency and accountability (Part II)

On 28 December 2015, we carried an article on the above subject but we were unable to complete it because of space constraints.

Financial papers 1/2015 and 2/2015

Last Thursday, the National Assembly considered and approved two financial papers that were presented by Finance Minister Winston Jordan.

Stock take on governance, transparency and accountability

The year 2015 is about to come to a close. It is a time when business organisations are conducting physical stocktaking exercises to identify and value their inventories, other assets and liabilities for the purpose of closing their books and preparing their financial statements.