Long-time employee Gerald Henry held a press conference this morning, claiming he’s the target of what he calls a sustained attack on his credibility and seniority, allegedly at the hands of his own department head. This comes just a week after Henry and former public officer Doreth Obermayer staged a protest outside the Ministry of Public Service, accusing supervisors of using the Public Service Regulations as a weapon against staff. Now, in response to a press release from the Auditor General’s office labeling them as ‘audit risks,’ Henry is firing back, saying the real issue is a controversial code of ethics he believes is not only illegal, but weaker than existing regulations. So, what’s really going on behind the scenes? We’ve got the details.
Doreth Obermayer, Retired Public Officer
“While I was working in the office of the Auditor General there was this so-called code of ethics that was forced on audit officers to sign. Once this document was not signed, you were not assigned an audit task. Reason stated was that you place the audit at risk. This document that they forced the officers to sign is an international document that had nothing to do with GOB and the office of the Auditor General. The Government of Belize never signed on to this document. It was adopted by a former auditor general upon attending a Caribbean Organization of Supreme Audit Institution event where he signed and agreed to adopt the International Standard for Supreme Audit Institution. The Government of Belize was never aware of an auditor general adopted and ratified international standard which was never tbled in the house of representatives. With all that, the Office of the Auditor General still continue to force officers to sign the document or else you will be pushed aside or no work is assigned to you.”
