By Sarah E. Treptow
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Auditor General Eroni Vatuloka has said an investigation report into a payout of $184,740 to interim PM Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama will be ready by the end of February.  The payout was reportedly for leave he said he was owed in 1978.  Mr. Vatuloka normally reports directly to Parliament, who would then make the report public.  However, under the interim regime, the reports have gone to the interim finance minister.  Currently the interim finance minister is Bainimarama.

Mr. Vatuloka began investigations in to the payout in July when the payout was made public.  Bainimarama was back-paid for 698 days, totaling $20,406.71.  At the time Bainimrama referred all questions to the army chief-of-staff, Colonel Mohammed Aziz.  Colonel Aziz denied it was a payout and said 40 officers who were seconded since the 2006 coup received similar treatment.  He said it was unfortunate Bainimarama was not paid the money until he was interim Prime Minister.

Professor Wadan Narsey has expressed concerns over the lack of transparency of Fiji’s interim government.  Narsey said, “A terribly loud question has to be asked: Why are our corporate bodies, our senior accounting firms, and our employers’ federations not demanding that the Auditor General and the Interim Government must release the audit reports to the public?”

It is unclear at this point whether the final auditor’s report will be made public.

For more information, please see:
Fiji Times – PM Audit – 10 February 2009

Fiji Times – Audit report not for public – 10 February 2009