Record keeping - the key to transparency and accountability

John A. Aarons, Contributor

Issues involving transparency and accountability involving chiefly expenditure in the public sector continue to make the headlines almost on a daily basis. At the time of writing, the most recent one involves expenditure at the Bellevue Hospital. Among the issues highlighted in The Gleaner account (November 24) was that 40 persons had been paid $10,000 each to clear bushes, and there was "no documentation about who made the decision and whether the work was actually done".

"The Case of the Missing Value Book" was the headline of a news item (October 27) by Edmond Campbell. It was a story of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) trying to unravel "the mystery of a missing value book containing critical information in relation to items such as cheques or cash". The book apparently had been missing for more than a year, and it meant that it could not be audited by the auditor general (AG), so the accuracy of funds received by the particular office could not be verified. Members of the PAC were not amused at this revelation, especially as no one had been held responsible for the matter.

At the Armadale enquiry last year, uncertainty about the release of a tear-gas ball led this newspaper's writer, Kimesha Walters, to write a news item titled "Poor record keeping gives cop 'free rein' with tear gas" (August 27, 2009). The story said that the officer did not only fail to make the necessary entry in the station diary (as required by regulations), which would have provided evidence of the particular item leaving the station, but neglected to record in the diary the calls made to the station regarding the incident at Armadale.

"Fatal delay of justice" was the title of an article by Dawn Ritch (January 7, 2001) regarding a report that a person had been incarcerated for 28 years and the Correctional Services Department was unable to state why he was there as his court records could not be found. Quite naturally, human-rights groups - and the society at large - were outraged and demanded to know how this could have happened.

ATTRACTING CORRUPTION

These incidents, reported in The Gleaner, are examples of the problems which can occur when records cannot be produced in order to provide evidence of transactions necessary for transparency, accountability, and as evidence to safeguard the rights of citizens. Investigations by the auditor general, the contractor general, and special commissions of enquiry into the operations of public-sector entities depend heavily on the existence of up-to-date records as it is only by examining these that organisations can be held accountable for their actions. The auditor general of a Commonwealth country once made the comment, during a public crisis on accountability, that "poor record keeping attracts corruption like flies to a carcass".

It is not enough, however, for organisations just to keep records, for if they are to be of any value, they should have certain qualities - whether they are in paper or electronic format. They should be an accurate representation of transactions, be reliable, have integrity (complete and unaltered), and be usable (i.e., easily located and retrievable). Obviously, ensuring these qualities is more difficult for records in electronic format than for paper as records in the former category are more transitory and can easily be erased or altered.

Poor record-keeping practices come at a heavy cost to the country. Perusal of the Report of the Auditor General for 2008-2009 reveals instances of lapses in record-keeping activities in audited entities which made it difficult, if not impossible, for the AG to verify how millions of dollars of taxpayers' money was spent. For instance, she states that the "audits at several entities disclosed instances in which vouchers and supporting invoices were not presented for expenditure totalling $30.9 million. I was therefore unable to verify their authenticity. Information was not made available as to how assets and other resources valued at $83.5 million were accounted for". (Section 3.6)

Some of the common problems enumerated by the auditor general are as follows:

• Incomplete employees' personnel files, which makes it difficult to ascertain if staff members are being paid correctly.
  
• Logbooks for vehicles not being maintained, resulting in management being unable to assess their operational efficiency and financial viability.
  
• Vital accounting records (invoices and vouchers) not maintained, resulting in the risk of abuse and losses.
  
• Deficiencies in the maintenance of stock registers and inventories so identification and location of items purchased could not be ascertained, resulting in the risk of pilferage.

Good record-keeping practices are vital for an organisation if it is to operate efficiently and effectively and be able to justify and provide evidence of its activities.

It is unfortunate that records tend to become newsworthy either when there are revelations that crucial documents - often involved in official investigations - are reported missing, or the media unearth records providing interesting, and previously unknown, details of government operations - especially expenditure.

Do not suffer the consequences! Ensure that organisational records are appropriately managed, not only to undergo scrutiny from the State's regulatory and investigatory agencies, but also to ensure efficiency and accountability in your operations.

John Aarons is the archivist at the University of the West Indies. He may be reached at john.aarons@ uwimona.edu.jm. Feedback may also be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.