The absence of an active board of the Guyana Lottery Control Commission came up for questioning today as the Public Accounts Committee met at Parliament Buildings.

The Committee heard that the Lottery Commission has not had a Board in place since 2019.

Finance Secretary, Sukrishnalall Pasha and Accountant General Jennifer Chapman were grilled on the matter by Opposition Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, who questioned whether the Lottery Company was operating in breach of the Lottery Act, with no Commission in place.

Mr. Mahipaul pointed out that under the law, the Commission is mandated to not only submit a report containing an account of its transactions to the Minister, but also during the drawing of the lottery, there must be at least three members of the Commission present. In the absence of the required members, the draw is postponed, according to the law.

“The Guyana Lottery Act mandates the present of the committee members to facilitate the working of this lottery fund, and the action of how you go and buy a lotto, that’s how you gain the money, when you are paying it out, and all these things. There is a board, there is a commission that ought to be in place to do these things based on the act. My question to you is who is doing that right now because there has not been a board from 2020, who is doing it?” MP Mahipaul questioned.

While dodging the question on who is usurping the authority and functions of the Commission, the Finance Secretary assured the PAC that all records are kept.

“We at the Ministry of Finance, what we are doing is ensuring that we keep records of the transactions and to ensure that the Auditor General could access those records,” he said.

It was also disclosed that funds are also being withdrawn from the Lotto Fund in the absence of the Commission. Those withdrawals were approved by the Cabinet, the Commission heard.

The Finance Secretary explained that in the absence of the Commission, he along with the Deputy Accountant General Elizabeth Persaud have been preparing the annual reports for submission to the Office of the Auditor General.

All of the  reports for periods 2020 through 2023 have been completed and submitted to the Auditor General. The 2024 report is currently being compiled.

“Statements are now being signed by myself and the DAG and I am happy to report that we have been able to clear all of the backlog that we had. So, our financial statements are audited up to 2023,” the Finance Secretary said.

MP Mahipaul, while acknowledging the efforts of the Finance Secretary, highlighted that there remains a clear breach of the law governing the Lottery Commission.

When the accounts for 2019 were examined, the PAC heard that the lottery fund generated $745 Million in 2019 and during that year, $50 Million was expended as sponsorship for the Buju Banton show, $88 million was spent on the national flag raising ceremony, and $49 million was spent on Guyana’s participation in CARIFESTA.

Related posts:

Public Accounts Committee drafting legislation to get power to summon Accounting Officers Government Members boycott Public Accounts Committee meeting again Government and Opposition clash over work of Public Accounts Committee; Chairman calls out Government for boycotting committee meetings City Council submits payment vouchers to Auditor General following complaints from Public Accounts Committee