History
The Auditor General’s Department of Trinidad and Tobago, formerly known as the Audit Department, came into existence with the appointment of a Director of Audit in the year 1862. Until that year, the accounts of the Colony of Trinidad, which became administratively linked with Tobago by an Order in Council of 1889, were apparently transmitted to the “Imperial Auditors” in London.
It was the coming into effect of the Exchequer and Audit Ordinance on December 05 1959 and the achievement of Independence by Trinidad and Tobago on August 31, 1962 that marked the creation of the post of Auditor General. The holder of that position has full responsibility for the audit and certification of the Nation’s public accounts in accordance with Section 90 (2) of the Trinidad and Tobago (Constitution) Order in Council, 1962.
Although from March 17, 1923, the Audit Department was funded locally, until the enactment of the Exchequer and Audit Ordinance and of the Constitution, certain senior personnel continued to be drawn from the United Kingdom Colonial Overseas Audit Service of Great Britain; and the audit of the Country’s accounts remained a part of the functioning of that overseas office. Between 1923 and 1963, eight persons were appointed from that source to head the Department, the last of them being Mr. I. V. G. Mackay.
The following nationals were subsequently appointed to head the Department..