Dear Editor,
The Auditor General and the staff of the Audit Office deserve congratulations for presenting the Report of the Auditor General for the fiscal year 2025 before the statutory deadline.
This marks the sixth consecutive year in which Auditor General Deodat Sharma, has presented his report to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) ahead of the September 30 deadline. What makes this record especially significant is the extraordinary conditions under which it was achieved. From the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic to the present, the Auditor General has not failed once to submit his report on time.
During the pandemic, when most were compelled to retreat indoors and public services were disrupted, the Audit Office remained engaged in the demanding work of examining how public funds were spent. While others would have found convenient excuses for delay and non-performance, the Audit Office continued to review Government spending to determine whether public funds were utilised in a transparent and accountable manner. For the Audit Office, it appears as though accountability did not catch COVID.
The scale of the challenge did not end with the pandemic but increased in line with the rapid expansion in Government spending since 2020. The four-fold increase in Government spending from $329.5 billion in 2020 to $1.382 trillion in 2025 virtually created more projects, transactions and documents for the Auditor General and his staff to scrutinise. Instead of retreating from his responsibility and hiding behind excuses, the Auditor General shepherded his team to ensure compliance with the constitutional obligation of his office by submitting annual reports within nine months of the close of each fiscal year.
This contrasts with the years 1982 to 1989, which is difficult to ignore because no audited financial statements were presented when the economy was virtually at a standstill and Government spending was flatlining. For almost an entire decade, no audit report was presented. During this period, the country’s public accounts appear to have taken an extended hiatus, without any approval from taxpayers. In other words, transparency and accountability were Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and probably disappeared into an administrative Bermuda Triangle.
It is therefore a little remarkable that a former Auditor General associated with that era of prolonged darkness now appears deeply concerned about the current Auditor General’s performance. The former officeholder has found considerable energy to criticise Mr Sharma and to advocate for his removal. This is certainly a refreshing display of concern for accountability, albeit one that seems to have arrived several decades after it was most urgently needed.
One must therefore ask: where was this passion for transparency when audited financial statements were not produced? Where was the outrage when taxpayers were literally left in the dark? Why only now is the Audit Office being attacked when it is complying with its constitutional mandate?
I suspect the answer may be found in a famous African proverb, “It is only the tree loaded with fruit that people throw stones at,” which means that successful and productive people often face criticism, envy, and attacks from those who are not successful. In other words, only fruit-bearing trees are targeted because they have value worth trying to knock down.
Editor, I want to end by once again congratulating the Auditor General and his staff for their hard work and to encourage them to continue along this path so we can know whether our tax dollars are being spent in a transparent and accountable manner. I also wish to remind them that the best way to silence your critics is not by arguing with them but by achieving more success. Macte virtute et successeur, which means to go forward in courage and success!

Kind regards,
Kevin Persaud