MINISTER within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma, has said that audits into agencies, projects and funds have indicated that there seems to have been deliberate, premeditated plans to engage in corruption under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government.

According to the Junior Finance Minister, Forensic Audits, the findings of which will soon be made public, have identified many instances in which the PPP Government would have violated the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act.

He said there have been many instances of “dishonesty, deficiency, discrepancies; some of which were never highlighted in reports from the Auditor General and consequently the National Assembly…”

He added: “The people of Guyana never knew about the truth of the financial operations, mismanagement and excesses that were taking place in these entities.”

Addressing the National Assembly on Tuesday during Day Two of the 2016 Budget Debates, Minister Sharma said that based on the findings of the audits seen, he is of the opinion that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that premediated plans had existed to engage in corruption. He said the evidence would support charges in relation to deception, acts of fraud, misfeasance of public office, and political corruption.

Upon hearing this, PPP Shadow Finance Minister Irfaan Ali jumped to his feet, complaining that the Junior Finance Minister was quoting from document or documents that have not been officially made public. Ali was particularly offended by the Minister’s suggestion that there were acts of political corruption under the PPP Administration, but Minister Sharma made it clear that he was only stating his opinion that persons could be charges for political corruption and acts of fraud, among other white collar crimes that had probably been committed.

In light of these challenges, the Junior Finance Minister informed the House that Government would soon be receiving support from the Commonwealth Secretariat to improve its system and structure for internal audit across the Government. This partnership, he said, would result in a robust public sector that would benefit from a strong system of internal control that would reduce mismanagement and corrupt practices.