Maria Rodriguez Set to Become Belize’s New Auditor General Pending Final Approvals

While the country has been without an Auditor General for some weeks, Maria Rodriguez will soon fill the vacant post. Last Tuesday, Cabinet was informed that of the three people who applied and were interviewed, Rodriguez was the candidate. A panel, including Cabinet Secretary Stuart Leslie, Financial Secretary Joseph Waight, and Public Service CEO Rolando Zetina, deliberated and recommended Rodriguez for the role. The Deputy Auditor General will now await approval from the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Governor General for approval. But will the appointment be accepted without pushback? Yesterday, Prime Minister John Briceno explained that he believes there shouldn’t be, since the government follows due process. 

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “Yes, we went through the process. We advertised it. Three persons applied. We had the Cabinet Secretary, the Financial Secretary and the CEO for the public service that did the interview process. Each one of them were interviewed extensively and the Cabinet Secretary informed cabinet yesterday that they will be recommending the deputy, I’m trying to remember the lady, Maria Rodriguez. They will be recommending her to takeover post of the Auditor General. Obviously that is something that has to be approved by the legislature. So at the next house meeting we’re going to present it and hope and expect that we will accept the recommendation that has been made. And then it goes to the Senate and then to the Governor General. We went through the process and we advertised the post and these are the people that applied. And if we don’t accept it, then it’s almost like damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If we don’t accept it, we’re going to be accused that we don’t want to appoint an Auditor General and that we need to have an Auditor General. And if we do, they are still going to criticize us. Well then we’re just going to take action. We’re just going to proceed with the process that started.”

Rodriguez takes over from Dorothy Bradley, whose contract ended in August 2024./