Former Guyana President Wants Audit Findings Made Public

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — Former president, Bharrat Jagdeo, is calling on the Guyana government to make public, the findings of all the audits being conducted into the former administration.

Jagdeo is also warning, that former government ministers who are implicated in any wrongdoing will not be protected by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) that had been in office for several years.

“Release all the audits. Give it to the newspapers, the TV stations, to everyone. Put it on a website… If anyone has broken the law then you can refer them to the police,” Jagdeo told the Guyana-based online publication, News Source.

His comments come one day after former Public Service Minister, Jennifer Westford, and her former personnel officer, Margaret Cummings, were released on GUY$4.8 million bail each, after they were slapped with 24 charges of fraud.

Last weekend, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, told the National Assembly, that preliminary analysis indicates that in a number of cases, there were acts of dishonesty and duplicity, mismanagement of resources, opaqueness of transactions and a disregard for basic internal controls.

But Jagdeo called on Jordan to release the findings of all state audits warning, that people implicated in wrongdoing would have to face the consequences on their own.

The former head of state said, he had received an explanation from Westford regarding the incidents, but added “I cannot speak about it here.

“Those things are part of her defense,” Jagdeo said, but promised that she would soon make a statement on the matter.