“I’m not prepared to commit the public purse to any more fees.”
Those are the words of Attorney General Reginald Armour, who maintained on Thursday that he gave Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass an undertaking that he was only prepared to pay her legal fees for independent counsel on a specific matter she sought his advice on.
However, her legal representative, Freedom Chambers, wants Armour to do more than that.
“I reiterated my commitment to pay legal fees for that which the Auditor General had requested and beyond that, I’m not prepared to commit the public purse to any more fees,” Armour said during a post-Cabinet media briefing at Whitehall, Port-of-Spain, where the latest legal response from Ramdass was dealt with.
The Auditor General’s legal action has claimed that her rights have been breached. She is seeking protection under the law, plus payment of legal fees for advice to navigate the “multiple legal issues” that have arisen. This, following Government’s refusal to present her 2023 report to Parliament in April and its move to amend Sections 24 and 25 of the Exchequer and Audit (E&A) Act to extend the time to send information on the 2023 accounts to the Auditor General by four months.
Armour reiterated the crux of the matter – the Auditor General’s April 17 letter making a specific request for legal representation. This, he said, was for an opinion on Sections 24 and 25 of the E&A Act and if her office was required to consider the amended accounts n light of those sections.
Armour said he took legal advice on that and replied to the Auditor General on April 19 that he was already advising Finance Minister Colm Imbert on the matter. Government had already had to send the Auditor General a pre-action protocol letter on the issue of the accounts. In the circumstances, Armour said he told the Auditor General it would have been inappropriate for him to render any advice to her on the matter and recommended she retain independent legal counsel. He said he gave the undertaking to pay reasonable fees incurred by Ramdass for obtaining such advice.
After that, Armour said he had no further word from the Auditor General.
On April 24, Armour said he was advised that the Auditor General’s “purported report” for 2023 was sent to the Parliament.
“Subsequent to that, I received a letter from Mr Anand Ramlogan’s chambers making a number of allegations against me, including the fact I was being called on, consistent with my earlier promise, to provide for the legal representation of his Freedom Law chambers.”
Armour said he replied to Ramlogan in an April 29 letter. That pointed out that it had been recommended to the Auditor General to retain independent counsel to give advice on her query over whether she was required to consider the amended accounts statements in light of Sections 24-25 of the E&A Act.
Armour response stated that the Attorney General’s Ministry had been prepared to pay reasonable fees incurred by the Auditor General to get that advice. The reply also noted that it was clear the recommendation was specific, related and confined solely to the advice sought by Ramdass in her April 17 letter — and not in respect of any other advice or matter.
Armour said he was repeating the content of those letters yesterday, “… To put it beyond doubt that in so far as it’s being reported that I’ve refused, as Attorney General, to pay for legal fees for the Auditor General – that is not correct.”
He said, “I was very clear throughout my correspondence regarding my willingness to pay the reasonable legal costs concerning retention of counsel for the advice sought by the Auditor General, and any reports to the contrary are erroneous—and I fear, deliberately to mislead.”
Armour said the Auditor General wrote him with a specific request for legal representation.
“I told her I was advising the Finance Minister—I couldn’t advise her. I encouraged her in very clear language to proceed urgently to retain independent legal counsel from whom she could take advice on the specific matter she’d sought my advice. I gave the undertaking I’d be prepared to pay her legal fees for retention of such advice.
“Since then, I’ve received correspondence from Mr Ramlogan’s chambers requiring me to do more than that and I’ve made it very clear I have a duty to make sure the public purse is managed responsibly. I reiterated my commitment to pay legal fees for that which the Auditor General requested—an opinion on the true constructions of Sections 24-25 of the Exchequer and Audit Act – and beyond that I’m not prepared to commit the public purse to any more fees.”
Armour said the Finance Minister had disclosed the full true facts of the matter, ”and it will, at the end of the day, be ventilated in the courtroom ….”