Georgetown: The Guyana Police Force (GPF) announces said that Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh did not violate any criminal law and threw out, as having no merit, the complaint recently filed by Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader Khemraj Ramjattan regarding restoration of funds cut from the national budget.
In a statement, the GPF said the Finance Minister committed no criminal breach that required Police attention.
The budget cuts restored by the Minister included amounts allocated for investment in Amerindian Village projects and the Amerindian Development Fund, payment of student loans, payment of salaries for staff and other operational expenses at the Office of the President, Institute of Applied Science and Technology, the Integrity Commission, National Communications Network, Office of the First Lady, Office of the Commissioner of Information, and the Presidential Guard Service, amongst others.
Informed observers have said that the opposition’s attempt to criticise the Minister for restoring these amounts is an attack on the beneficiaries of the developmental initiatives funded by these amounts.
The Police said they do not conduct investigations into civil and administrative breaches of the law. “The Police Force is obligated to investigate criminal breaches only and does not conduct investigations into civil breaches nor administrative breaches of the law, save and except those related to the Police (Discipline) Act, Chapter 17:01 regarding the conduct of its ranks,” the statement said.
The Police said it is of the opinion that the section of the law that Ramjattan alleges was breached by the Minister addresses administrative issues and is, therefore, an administrative breach.
From the onset, a prominent lawyer who had spoken to this newspaper under condition of anonymity had said that the AFC’s Police complaint was bad in law. The Attorney had said that the “criminal action” filed against Dr Singh was not clearly defined as a crime, asking what elements of the law that Minister Singh allegedly violated.
The Attorney noted that if Minister Singh acted outside of his remit, then this is a case for the courts.“They’ll first decide through “judicial review” whether a conferred power has been exceeded… until then, there is no case,” the Attorney contended.
In its formal complaint, the AFC had said the Finance Minister – together with other officials at the said Ministry and elsewhere in other Ministries and Government agencies, namely the Office of the President and the Ministries of Amerindian Affairs, Public Works and Health – misused, misapplied, and improperly disposed of public monies to the extent of $4.533 billion during the period ending June 16 for Financial Year 2014, by knowingly permitting contraventions of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act 2003, contrary to Sections 48 and 85.
The party noted that the Supreme Law of Guyana is the Constitution. Under Title 8 “Finance”, provisions are made in Articles 216 to 221, which govern the appropriation of revenues or public monies for purposes of spending.
You must be logged in to post a comment.