Senate Debates Appointment of Acting Auditor General as Government Addresses Salary and Staffing Issues

A motion to appoint an Acting Auditor General was debated in the Senate this morning.  The appointment period is for four months, and is reportedly based on the time it would take to select a qualified person to fill the post and to have it go through the required processes via the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Senator Christopher Coye spoke on the matter this morning indicating that the position has been advertised and scheduled interviews should be conducted in the coming weeks. Maria Rodriguez is the Acting Auditor General as was approved by the House of Representatives on October 18.  Her four-month appointment took effect on September 1, and has since brought about several issues surrounding the post.  Among those issues is the matter of the salary scale.  According to Senator Coye, the government has turned to a consultant that has been looking at the various salary scales which he says are antiquated.  Additionally, there is a streamlining of activities ranging from staffing to pay scales are already underway.

Christopher Coye, Government Senator: “The government in the early days of this administration went about and secured funding, a loan from the IDB for public financial management. That project loan and that project is in progress. Under that project, we’re developing legislation in terms of procurement, central procurement of goods and services. That as well is in process and a bill, and a preliminary draft has been drawn up. That ultimately will seek to push that through cabinet and ultimately the legislature as well. But there are a lot of areas that are being addressed, but they do take time. With respect to the staffing, and this is staffing that’s not limited to just the auditor general office but the overall pay scale structure is something that is actually under review. That is, once again, a technical cooperation has been secured for that. The public service union is fully aware of this. This has been shared with the public service union with a view to understand what are the weaknesses. The existing salary scale. is clearly an archaic one that really has outlived its, I don’t know if it’s purpose, but certainly there are better ways of a salary scale for the public service. With that consultancy assistance, we’re looking forward with the engagement of the public service to refine or redo that salary scale. So it is relevant for this discussion because I don’t think anybody would disagree that, for example, the position of the auditor general, the job description and what it entails very well would require a better compensation to attract the quality and the skill level that is needed to effectively run the office of the auditor general.”

Also rising to speak on the appointment of an Acting Auditor General was Senator for Government Business, Eamon Courtenay.  Courtenay spoke on a 2001 constitutional amendment that was done to address the appointment of an Auditor General.  

Eamon Courtenay, Senator, Leader of Government Business: “Section 109-2 provides that if after the 15th day of January 2002 the office of Auditor General is vacant, which it is now, or if the whole of that office is for any reason unable to exercise the functions of this House, the Governor General acting on the recommendations of both houses of the National Assembly, contained in resolutions passed in that behalf, may appoint a person to act as Auditor General. Now, that is where we are. The government has come asking the permission of this House, the House of Representatives, to approve the recommendation to the Governor General to appoint Ms. Rodriguez as an Acting Auditor General for four months. My appeal to this Honorable Senate, Madam President, is to reflect soberly on whether or not we prefer to continue for one minute, one hour, one day, one month, four months without an auditor general in an acting position. Is that better than having an acting auditor general? If the social partners and the opposition as they have articulated are not supporting the motion then emotion will fail and it means that we will have no auditor general. I do not believe with respect that is in the interest of the Belizean people. All the criticisms that have been levied are taken on board. I am not standing here to dispute them. What I will say is the importance that is attached to this constitutional office. The fact that the Constitution was amended to allow for an acting auditor general to be appointed should be borne in mind and to say where the public interest lies. Is it in having an acting auditor general on a short-term basis so that we can complete the process of making a formal appointment, or is it better to have the office without someone acting in the interim?”

Rodriguez was operating as one of two Deputy Auditors General since November 1, 2019. She surpasses Selwyn Fuller with this new motion. She succeeds Dorothy Bradley whose contract had expired on August 31.