Recent statements by the President and Ministers trying to explain why they are not handing over the money from the NICIL account into the Consolidated Fund are quite ridiculous. The highest law of the country, the Constitution, makes it quite clear that all money, all revenue, raised or received by Guyana shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Fund.
Failure to hand over the money from NICIL is a blatant breach of the Constitution. It is unlawful.
The AFC has explained that the money in the NICIL account belongs to the people of Guyana – not the government, not the opposition, but, all the people and as such it must be in an account where the representatives of the people can have oversight. That account is the Consolidated Fund.
By keeping the money in the NICIL account, the government has left the door open for speculation as to what is happening with this money. We have a situation where billions of dollars belonging to the people of this country are not being accounted for. This is a dangerous situation which has gone on for too long and one which the government should be working to rectify.
While the Government proclaimed that it cannot reduce income tax rate, cannot reduce VAT, is very mean on public sector increases, billions of taxpayers money are being intercepted into NICIL accounts instead of being available to improve Guyanese living conditions.
The AFC is not prepared to argue the semantics of whether there is $50 billion or more or less in the NICIL account. The fact of the matter is that the money, whatever there is, must be handed over to the Consolidated Fund. So says the Constitution. An audit will prove how much should have been in the account.
The Alliance For Change is prepared to work with the government and APNU to have the money in the NICIL account, the Lotto funds and other ‘slush fund’ accounts transferred to the Consolidated Fund.
It is time for us to work together to strengthen accountability and transparency. This is not just a job for the opposition or for the government. It is a job for all of us and the AFC is committed to working with the other parties to see this is done in the least acrimonious manner. There is a Motion to the National Assembly to address this matter. The AFC hopes this will not become another ‘war of words’. We hope the government will listen to the arguments put forward during the debate of this Motion and that good sense will prevail on all sides. [END]
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