When a Barbados talk show host can unabashedly state that the Auditor General (AG) has no teeth, the first instinct is to agree. Year after year the reports read like a CBC TV 8 rerun of Walker Texas Ranger– missing files, loose procurement, state entities behaving as if tax dollars is personal cash, financial rules ignored like the TINT law.
The reality which is sad and tiring to repeat in this space: the governance system was never designed for the AG to have teeth. Under the Westminster model we inherited, those teeth are supposed to belong to Parliament, specifically, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). This is where the real failure in our governance system is located.
In theory, the AG flags financial wastage and irregularities in the public sector, and lays the evidence before Parliament in the form of an annual or Special report. The PAC, which is made up of government and opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) and chaired by the leader of the opposition, then ‘subpoena’ permanent secretaries, members of boards, and ministers to explain away irregularities contained in the report. Hearings are usually public. Reports of findings are suppose to follow. Recommendations are made. Governments that ignore them are shamed in Parliament and, ultimately, when we mark our X.
Because the Westminster system of government deems the AG to be an unelected official, firing public officers, freezing spending or initiating court action is deemed out of pocket for the job function. The real power resides with elected members of parliament, who can voted out. What has compounded the issue for Barbados is the fact we do not have an elected Opposition to fulfil its designated role on the PAC as intended by the framers. Some will respond to say that when there was an elected Opposition, there was also a failure to hold government accountable. Our problem is that we are missing elected individuals of INTEGRITY.
Why has the PAC continued to fail on its mandate? IF we are unable to ensure a key plank that underpins our governance system works, why are we surprised we have been unable to efficiently regulate the PSV sector? The PAC unfortunately currently exists to check a box. It legitimises being called a democratic country. How can the PAC be taken seriously if meetings are infrequent and ineffective. Hearings, when scheduled are low profile. Reports, if produced are deliberately lost during prorogue. How quickly we have forgotten about an MP brandishing a weapon on the precinct of parliament with no consequences In this instance, the Committee of Privileges failed as well. The government majority on the working committees of parliament have every incentive to protect its own side- made worse with an APPOINTED Opposition.
This is a structural flaw in our system of Westminster government. Parliament is both the accused and the judge. The same MPs who vote the money, defend the spending, and appoint the boards are the ones sitting in judgment when the Auditor General says something has gone wrong. In a small society like Barbados, where everybody knows everybody, partisan ties and personal relationships make that conflict of interest even sharper. It is not just foxes guarding the henhouse; it is foxes investigating foxes about what happened in the henhouse last year. Again, this is made worse because there is no elected Opposition.
The Auditor General’s office is doing its job by providing the evidence. The PAC is supposed to provide the process to adjudicate based on the AG’s report. Consequences should follow where ministers are moved or fired, policies changed, public officers disciplined or fired, systems fixed, and sometimes criminal charges filed. When the PAC fails to do a job, the whole chain of accountability inevitably collapses. We end up exactly where we are now with detailed findings and no one held accountable.
If there is one thing the talk show host stated today that all must agree, Barbadians in the majority need to become more passionate about getting involved in the affairs of state, that is, discharging our civic responsibility. Hopefully after the revery of recent days, we will see the light.
Are we there yet?
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