The Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) has responded to the fracas surrounding the much-debated audit of the Urban Renewal Commission (URC), backing Auditor General Terrance Bastian and charging that the "integrity, independence and constitutionally-mandated responsibilities of the Office of the Auditor General should be supported by all public officials and citizens".

Some of the results of Bastian's audit of the URC have ignited a blizzard of accusations and counterclaims. Officials who work in the URC have accused the auditor general of being misled and misleading the public. The political leaders of the program - Co-chairs Algernon Allen and Cynthia "Mother" Pratt - have suggested that the audit was politically motivated, and other public officials as prominent as the attorney general herself have charged that the process was improper.

BICA President Darnell Osborne over the weekend ended the association's silence on the matter. In a statement sent to Guardian Business, she said, "The Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants has taken note of public commentary in connection with an examination of the Urban Renewal home improvement program by the Office of the Auditor General.

"The role of the auditor general, as stipulated in the Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is essential to achieving the objectives of reporting on the fairness of public sector financial reports; compliance with applicable statutes and regulations; and a review of internal controls of public sector entities relative to the performance of the public sector in connection with public expenditures."

She said the association "strongly affirmed" that an independent audit function is fundamental to the transparency and accountability of the public sector. Such audits provide an unbiased and objective assessment of national expenditures and the adequacy of internal controls governing the process for making such expenditures.

"The integrity, independence and constitutionally-mandated responsibilities of the Office of the Auditor General should be supported by all public officials and citizens," Osborne said. "BICA supports the auditor general, a chartered accountant, and the essential role the Office of the Auditor General performs in fulfilling its mandate to constructively assess the systems of internal controls governing public sector finances."

In her minute paper on whether or not the co-chairs of the URC had to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) - which they have yet to do - Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson said that the audit was allegedly done at the request of the PAC. And in fact, PAC Chairman Hubert Chipman has been quoted in the press on numerous occasions promising a report on an audit into the Urban Renewal program.

Said the Attorney General, "While it is clear that the PAC, in the general performance of the duties allocated to it by the House, may require the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents, the purported exercise of this power in the instant case is ultra vires the powers and functions of the PAC, procedurally flawed, contrary to the statutory and constitutional principles regulating public finances, and raises the spectre of interference with the constitutional functions of the Auditor General."

She then explained that neither the PAC nor its chairman has any power to direct or request that the auditor general conduct a specific or particular audit of any government department or other body, and the procurement of an audit at the behest of the PAC or chairman is contrary to the constitutional functions and special immunity given to the auditor general under article 136(5) of the constitution. She cited other ways in which the PAC's vaunted ability to send for "persons, papers and records" is circumscribed in this instance, but Guardian Business understands that the audit in question was not done at the request of the PAC or its chairman.

A source not authorized to speak publicly on the matter has confirmed that the audit of the Urban Renewal Commission was already on the auditor general's agenda, and that the audit was not done at the request of Chipman or anybody else. In fact, the Guardian Business source pointed out that Chipman may have requested an audit, but he could not direct that the auditor general conduct one for exactly the reasons Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson cited.

Guardian Business also understands that this audit - as with all others - was addressed to the permanent secretary of the ministry in question, in this case Diana Lightbourne, and copied to the financial secretary and the treasury. The copy sent to the PAC was apparently sent because that body was "an interested party".

The process followed with such matters, we understand, is that the report is discussed in draft form with the PS prior to its completion.

Guardian Business also understands that officers from the auditor general sat physically in the URC offices for two months as they conducted the audit. The character of the reaction to the audit of the Urban Renewal Commission has surprised many.

Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation CEO Edison Sumner told Guardian Business over the weekend that the issue being played out "clearly demonstrates the need for the Freedom of Information Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act that we have been advocating for, for some time now".

"It also demonstrates the need for there to be a greater level of autonomy and independence in the office of the auditor general that is free from political influence and interference, as well as the need now to consider implementing the office of ombudsman who will be able to watch over the activities of the auditor general and other such authorities in the country," Sumner said.

"We appreciate that in all cases due process has to prevail, but one cannot ignore such reports, and corrective measures must be taken to be sure that what we are hearing and reading in the media regarding this matter does not happen again.

"There have to be checks and balances and someone has to be held accountable for the (mis-steps) identified by the auditor general. There has to be some justification to support his report, or evidence to prove otherwise."

Anti-corruption mechanisms
The Auditor General's Office is one of a number of agencies identified by the Organization of American States (OAS) as "oversight bodies" in The Bahamas; the Office of the Attorney General, the Public Disclosure Commission, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Compliance Commission are the others. These bodies are considered critical in ensuring the absence of corruption in the jurisdiction, or the identification and mitigation of such corruption once it is discovered.

The Bahamas signed the InterAmerican Convention Against Corruption (the Convention) on March 9, 2000 and ratified it on March 14, 2000. In addition, The Bahamas signed the Declaration on the Mechanism for Follow-up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption on June 4, 2001, on the occasion of the OAS General Assembly in San Jose, Costa Rica. This process - known as the MESICIC - has just completed its fourth round.

In 2005, the MESICIC Committee of Experts for the first round of follow-up made a number of recommendations designed to smooth the implementation of the convention and strengthen anti-corruption efforts by The Bahamas.

The Committee of Experts for the fourth round pointed out in their report in March 2015 that some of the recommendations made in the first round are still pending or have been reformulated to address issues such as: establishing or adapting and then implementing standards of conduct for those offices that currently do not fall under the purview of any controls, including adequate sanctions for violations of those standards; establishing reporting requirements for those public officials and employees who are currently not required to report to appropriate authorities acts of corruption in the performance of public functions; enacting a Freedom of Information Act that regulates and facilitates the access by the public to information in the control of public institutions; and notifying the OAS General Secretariat formally of the designation of the central authority, pursuant to the prescribed formalities.

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