Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 09, 2014 News
Upon careful analysis of their functions and performance, there is a growing perception in and out of the political arena,
that the role of a Permanent Secretary (PS) can only be paralleled with that of a toothless poodle.
Permanent Secretaries are the accounting officers of their respective Ministries. They are tasked with ensuring that money appropriated by Parliament is spent wisely, among other responsibilities. They are also answerable to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly.
However, when the many new, and in some cases, frequently recurring and unsolved financial irregularities of several Ministries, are placed under the microscope, it leaves some parliamentarians to deduce that the Permanent Secretaries have been emasculated, and are unable to function properly.
If not emasculated, then it leaves some to also conclude that a number of the Permanent Secretaries are appointed to such a position without proper attention being paid to their competence for such an area.
The professional Permanent Secretary is expected to ensure transparency regardless of who occupies the seat of Government.
But, according to some members of the PAC, those officers who might have started out with honourable intentions have, in some cases, sacrificed their professional principles for certain benefits or simply because they have no choice but to do so.
In sharing his views on the matter, Chairman of the PAC, Carl Greenidge, believes that while the system is faced with the problem of the emasculation of Permanent Secretaries and the other infringements that may follow as a result, “all these problems could be solved if only Parliament was serious or the police would pursue the culprits assiduously.”
In the absence of such staunch action, Greenidge said that it amounts to help being given to the Government and the alleged criminals.
“When has the Parliament been able to stop something that the Government wants to do? That can only happen if the Government respects the Constitution. Parliament passed a motion in 2012 prohibiting the Government from spending money on the Marriott Hotel.
“The government ignored it…We all know that the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, and the Director of Public Prosecutions are at the heart of facilitating the abuse of the Constitution and of the Law as seen in the case of spending on the basis of the so called “Statements of Excess,” the infamous case of the handling of the Minister of Finance’s traffic accident and refusal to implement the Local Government Legislation,” Greenidge lamented.
He added that if the Permanent Secretaries are too timid or are captives of the Presidency, the remedy lies first in the Courts and ultimately in extra-Parliamentary action.
“Ultimately, when the Courts fail in face of a Government that disrespects the Constitution, it is the right of any electorate and their political representatives to take direct action. That has been the source of Guyana’s political problems,” Greenidge concluded.
Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, also commented on the emasculation of Permanent Secretaries.
The Attorney-at-Law told this publication that he finds it most disheartening that the massive public sector reform exercise which was to see a non-political, professional Public Service, came to a halt several years ago under the helm of Roger Luncheon, upon instruction of then President Bharrat Jagdeo.
He noted that the abandonment also affected training of such accounting officers. Hence, “Permanent Secretaries do not know their duties, but see themselves as appendages of the politicos.”
Ramjattan said that Ministers ensure that this too is the reality. He added, “Permanent Secretaries, like ýthroughout the hierarchy, are constantly instructed to do things which they should not do, and allow an abuse by Ministers to practice in a partisan manner.”
The politician said that this degeneration occurred especially under the Jagdeo regime and continues in a worst form today under President Donald Ramotar.
He said that theý top position of Permanent Secretary is a misnomer as there is no security of tenure, but is now subject to a new arrangement wholly set under contractual terms.
The AFC Leader said that the removal of Permanent Secretary is now akin to ‘dismissibility at pleasure.’
“So the PS will always be looking over his shoulder to vent opinions his Minister likes to hear. This is not professionalism in action.”
Ramjattan reminded that Ministers have an obligation to adhere to conventions concerning the Public Service, the most important one being that they must allow the Permanent Secretaries to effectively implement and be overall accountable for all policies and management of the Ministry or its departments.
The lawyer then said that he will call, by way of the National Assembly, for the drafting by Government of a Public Service Management Code similar to the British Model.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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