And in other news, yesterday a letter was delivered to the CEO in the Ministry of Public Service, Rolando Zetina, signed by eight public officers employed at the Audit Department outlining the issues they have with the filling of vacant positions. According to the letter, 9 positions were filled between the 15th and 18 of October 2021, but the auditors who signed the letter believe that, quote, "perfectly qualified and experienced staff were overlooked and unfairly superseded by junior, inexperienced and unqualified staff." End quote.
The letter then goes on to list the positions, which include the deputy auditor general, 5 supervisors of audits, 2 examiner of accounts, and one audit assistant. The letter added that the supervisors of audit were not only inexperienced but they also did not meet the qualifications, including the educational requirements.
And on top of that, they say that persons from outside the department were given the positions to supervise over those who have been there for years.
And today, the president of the Public Service Union explained that this department has had complaints about different issues for years, especially with the former Auditor General. He says that the public officers there have a history of being victimized. Here's how he put it today via Zoom:
Dean Flowers, President, PSU
"As far back as 2017, there were some descent and uneasiness within the Office of the Auditor General, the former prime minister, I think, and the former Minister and CEO of Public Service, all failed to address what has been ongoing issues of poor management and administration of the personnel within the audit department. There is also been several allegations of wrongdoing, not only from an administrative standpoint, but also from a fiscal administration standpoint and these things have been highlighted and were highlighted to the former minister of public service and nothing was done. I think in an interview the former prime minister said he was a bit wary about touching the matter because of the constitutional protection that is offered to the auditor general so he was very fearful of moving on the former auditor general to address the many issues of vindictiveness and bad administration that were highlighted by the staff."
"But where promotion is concerned, where they give each and every audit officer in that department an opportunity to be able to move upwards, it would appear that that is the main issue of concern, that existed under the former auditor general, whereby even the current acting auditor general, her appointment was questioned by the solicitor general's office and those records are there that she was not properly seated."
"This practice of employing people or recommending people for positions that they're not qualified or suited for is not specific only to the audit department, I think while we all should be concerned about all these irregular appointments or promotions where the auditor general's ministry is concerned, it should cause us to be concerned much more because again, this is the department whereby checks and balances are put in place."
And Flowers also spoke about other issues that the PSU has had to assist with within that department - and why they voted against bringing back the former Auditor General.
Dean Flowers, President, PSU
"As it relates to assistance being rendered, we have been having dialogue with the Ministry of Public Service where the Audit Department is concerned but the grievances within the department are very old, I would say, more than 5, 6 years and those are the grievances that the PSU has been addressing under this administration in the first instance. We have been able to get consensus and we've reached a decision that those old grievances where allowances which were being denied to these officers out of spite is concerned that the Ministry of Finance will be addressing those and I know that that is being addressed. Following that, then the other grievance will be the individual grievances whereby people feel that they disenfranchised them and treated them unfairly where promotions are concerned. As stated, that Ministry of Public Service is well aware of this again but when the prime minister stated that they were contemplating bring back the former auditor general, this is one of the reasons why we objected, this is one of the reasons why we said, you should make an effort to fix the many wrongs that exist within that department which includes the fact that you had somebody there who did not enjoy the confidence and the respect of the audit staff. And bringing her back would create an environment of hostility and poor productivity as far as I'm concerned."
Flowers explained that the PSU will be partnering with the Ministry of Public Service to visit the department jointly and speak to the auditors who have complaints.
