A report from the Prosecutor’s Office published today in Panama reveals that the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) ignored most of the audit requests between May 2020 and May 2024.
The study indicates that some 52 requests for these controls were referred to that entity headed by Gerardo Solís, but only four of them were opened. For his part, the deputy of the Movimiento Otro Camino party, Ernesto Cedeño , indicated that Solís does not collaborate with the account prosecutor, Waleska R. Hormechea, with the audit requests you need to initiate investigations, since you are in office.
For the parliamentarian, Solís’ management has been characterized by refusing to carry out audits, not investigating and concealing names in official records.
In this regard, he cited that the Comptroller’s Office hid more than 50 per cent of the beneficiaries of economic aid provided by the Institute for Human Resources Training and Development (Ifarhu).
According to the newspaper La Prensa, the Ifarhu issued at least 410 certificates for financial aid issued between July 7, 2019 and May 24, 2023, which amounted to $415.1 million.
It details the research that the data contain 4,903 non-refundable aid provided by the Ifarhu; 56 per cent of the disbursements do not include the name of the beneficiary, which means that 142.01 million dollars were distributed at the discretion and without formal criteria or regulations, in almost four years.
Added to this are the consequences of Law 351 of 2022, amending the Organic Law of the CGR (formerly established by Law 32 of 1984), which continues to be perceived as an obstacle in the battle against corruption.
The regulations were sued by the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom in April 2023, a legal remedy that was admitted that same year.
Among other setbacks, the law gives discretion to the Comptroller’s Office not to carry out audits or investigations requested by the Court of Auditors or the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
It also grants almost plenipotentiary powers to the CGR and discretion to the Comptroller, which can lend themselves to arbitrariness, according to the complaints.
This article has been translated after first appearing in El Pais