Union Senator Calls for Greater Transparency in Auditor General Appointment Process

Union Senator Glenfield Dennison believes that the process used to appoint an Auditor General is in need of some adjustments.  The senator made his presentation in today’s senate meeting as a continuation of the appointment announced in Friday’s house meeting.  While the appointment has now been ratified by the Senate for Maria Annel Rodriguez to serve as the country’s new Auditor General, there were some criticisms from the Senate.  According to Dennison, as a legislator, he had no proof of qualifications or any information given to him on the selected candidate.

Glenfield Dennison, NTUCB Senator: “We are constitutionally required to recommend to the Governor General who becomes the Auditor General. That is not a function that is before anyone else and I without the benefit of understanding or participating in the procedure but even more so, Madam President, I have absolutely no point of reference for Maria Annel Rodriguez. I was not furnished with her resume, was not furnished with her qualifications, I was not furnished with anything other than little Google searches on who she was. I was also unaware, and still remain so unaware, as to the qualifications of any other applicants. I understand that there were three people interviewed for this post including Deputy Fuller as well as Mr.Charles Flowers and I have been reliably informed that there was a process that went through for which I applaud. I’ll come back to that. But we simply do not know Madam President what are we using to test the qualifications or the suitability of Ms.Rodriguez. That’s important Madam President because it’s not laid out specifically in the constitution how you are to go about selecting an Auditor General.” 

Senator for the private sector, Kevin Herrera, also rose to voice his concerns over the appointment.  His concerns had to do with the selection process, the salary packages as well as the cooperation needed by other departments in order to have the audits done.

Kevin Herrera, Senator, Business Community: “We were at the forefront of the Finance and Audit Reform Act at that time, and the Office of the Auditor General, because it’s so crucial in terms of accountability and transparency within the system, which were really the issues that were identified at the time, that we actually dedicated a whole part of the Audit and Reform Act to the Auditor General and the accounts and actually five subsections of that act. And we did that because we didn’t want to miss the point that we needed to hold the Auditor General accountable and responsible to generate the type of work and reports that we needed, that we need to ensure that the integrity of the system is maintained. Madam President I’m not generally cyclical but I’m beginning to feel that these systems perhaps are not supposed to work for some reason or the other. For example, if we talk about the delayed reports, the last Auditor General report was 2014-2015, I believe. 90% of the time you’ll be talking about the Auditor General. And sometimes when you think about it, you say, well, most of the time we’re probably missing the most significant issue in here. Because the Auditor General cannot audit accounts that were not submitted. And this is the point we keep on missing. We miss it every time. And because we miss it, we give the administration a free pass.”

Interestingly, today’s presentation in the Senate for a new Auditor General is not a first.  Last year, it had been done in a Senate meeting, but was rejected.  The motion to have Rodriguez appointed in an acting capacity was sent back to the House to reconsider the Acting status.  Senator for Government Business, Eamon Courtenay, rose to allay several concerns including the long term for the appointment which runs up until July 28, 2047

Eamon Courtenay, Senator, Leader of Government Business: “Madam President with respect to the qualifications of the candidate that is before you, the post was advertised for, as I understand it, for over six weeks. The qualifications were listed there. She satisfied the requirements, and therefore she was shortlisted. The panel that interviewed was comprised of the financial secretary, the cabinet secretary, and the CEO in the Ministry of the Public Service. All people who have experience in governance and public service and who are not politicians. I have every confidence, Madam President, that they satisfied themselves that she met the criteria and there is no reason to believe otherwise. Just take a look at the web internet to search the University of South Wales where she got her MBA and you will see the ranking of that university. And of course we are familiar with the University of Belize.The final point to which I wish to respond is the length of the appointment. And I just want to remind senators that it was this Senate in 2022 that passed the Auditor General’s Extension of Service Act. This Senate, this Senate passed the law that says that the Auditor General should be appointed to 65. That is why 65 is here. We prescribe that for the purpose of security of tenure. And so the one point I was very happy is that we avoided the outrageous and scandalous character assassination that happened in the other place on Friday. And I want to thank Senator Herrera and Senator Bengushe for their affirmation in supporting the candidate. And you are right, Senator Bengushe, it is only because the social partners said that they would not support the temporary appointment on the last occasion that government was compelled to make sure that the process was done regularly and above board.”

Rodriguez’ appointment is retroactive to January 1, 2025.  She now succeeds Dorothy Bradley whose contract expired in August 2024.