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Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis has issued a warning to permanent secretaries that her appearance at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to answer questions about the operations of her department does not give them a free pass as individual chief accountable officers.
Monroe Ellis appeared before the PAC a third time yesterday, where the findings of a 2019 internal audit of her department by the finance ministry were deliberated.
The auditor general faced less harsh tones than those of the past two sittings, where she was drilled about her whereabouts at the time of the entrance and exit interviews for the audit, as well as other matters not contained in the audit.
Monroe Ellis agreed with an opening statement made by St Andrew East Rural Member of Parliament Juliet Holness that agencies guarding the integrity of Government processes must themselves be beyond reproach.
"As a member of the Auditor General's Department you have to be like Caesar's wife - beyond reproach," Monroe Ellis said. "There is nobody that is infallible. I'm not sitting beside the individuals when they're carrying out the daily transactions of the department, so I cannot say that errors will not be made [but] what I can say is that when those errors are made and identified, I am going to ensure that steps are taken to address those errors and to implement measures that I believe can help in preventing and mitigating any weaknesses that may occur."
Furthermore, she said no permanent secretary should take comfort in any scrutiny of the Auditor General's Department, as all departments of Government are individually accountable for their operations and any shortcomings.
"When a permanent secretary signs that instrument there is nothing that tells them that they should watch what is happening at the corporate services division of the Auditor General's Department. It's every man for himself and God for all of us, so nobody should come here with any comfort that because it happens at the Auditor General's Department it is okay for me to do it. No. Everybody will have to stand on their own. I have no problem providing any answers to questions here and if I fall short, then I need to be told so. It is my responsibility to look back and review what I have done," Monroe Ellis asserted.
Holness pointed to the previous sittings, stressing that the committee was not seeking to diminish the Auditor General's Department (AuGD), but that it wants to ensure that the department not only requires the highest operational standards from all ministries, departments and agencies, but can itself stand up to scrutiny and uphold the same standards.
She said it was important that the issues that have arisen be contextualised, so that "recent events can be seen through the appropriate lenses, thus ensuring that the people of Jamaica are neither misled nor disillusioned".
Holness argued that particularly in respect of the PAC, the AuGD under its constitutional duties is understood, appreciated, and respected by both sides of the House.
Meanwhile, MP for Clarendon Northern Dwight Sibbles, who was among the members who took Monroe Ellis to task at previous sittings, said he wanted the AuDG to maintain its credibility as it continues to hold the spotlight up to ministries, departments and agencies, as it relates to business continuity plans, one of the concerns on which the committee has focused in the audit, specific to the AuGD's information technology systems.