One Bermuda Alliance candidate Andrew Simons says he and the Opposition party are frustrated by the lack of answers surrounding the absence of the Accountant General in the run-up tot he General Election.Accountant General Joyce Hayward was placed on administrative leave just two weeks before the general election, and Assistant Accountant General David King is also out of the office, having taken personal and educational leave.The events caused OBA finance spokesman Bob Richards to ask: “Who is minding the till?” while the Ministry of Finance has said that when any senior government post is vacant for any reason, arrangements are made for cover of the core duties and responsibilities of the post.“The Accountant General’s department has several qualified accountants to ensure the department is run effectively,” stated the Ministry of Finance.Mr Simons said he was “frustrated” by the lack of answers from the Finance Minister, Premier Paula Cox.“When it comes to the Accountant General being placed on administrative leave, followed swiftly by her assistant, people should be paying attention.“They should be asking ‘What on earth is going on with our money?’ The law makes it clear that the Accountant General is ‘subject to the general direction and control of the Minister’ Premier Paula Cox, as Minister, was responsible for Joyce Hayward,” he said.And the timing of the Accountant General’s leave is “far too convenient,” said Mr Simons, who is an OBA candidate for Pembroke Central, constituency 17. “I must point to the length of the Accountant General’s administrative leave; the current acting Accountant General is in place only until December 14, the Friday before the election. Does this mean that Ms Hayward will return to her position on the Monday of the election?“This begs an explanation of the purpose served by placing a civil servant on ‘administrative leave’, both generally and specifically in this instance. I believe I am not the only one who thinks this timing is far too convenient.“Could the Government clarify if an investigation is being conducted into any suspected misconduct, and if so, why it can be wrapped up in only two weeks?“In my opinion, folks are missing a few key points: instead of being straight with people on this important matter, the Finance Minister, Premier Paula Cox, has been hiding behind manufactured outrage.He cited the emergence of the United Bermuda Party’s ‘secret plan’ which described stand-ins for then party leader Michael Dunkley as a ‘handful ‘of ‘black surrogates’, and the media storm which followed. He pointed out that Roseanne Foy was appointed to act as Accountant General on November 28 — the same day that the secret plan was revealed on ZBM News.The issue of the Accountant General has been coming up on the doorstep, Mr Simons said.“I have been explaining that government pays bills from a ‘chequing account’ which is called the consolidated fund. Last year Government added roughly $870,027,000 to the account and paid $1,072,463,000 or so out of the account. The Accountant General administers all of that money.”He said: “Folks don’t trust Premier Paula Cox with taxpayers’ money. We can argue about whether Ms Cox isn’t good with money because she is a lawyer, or because she never assumed the burden of responsibility that comes with leadership, as Minister of Finance or as Premier.“We can’t argue, however, about the results. Paula Cox became Finance Minister in 2004, and, in every full financial year under her watch Government overspent its budget; Government debt ballooned from about $175 million in 2005 to almost $1.5 billion today; the Premier wanted Pastor Leroy Bean from the board of the BLDC, only to endorse him later as a candidate; and the Auditor General passed the following judgment on Premier Cox’s Ministry ‘The constant overspending by Government ministries and departments raises questions about the credibility of the budget process and the expenditure controls function carried out by the Ministry of Finance’.”The Finance Ministry declined to comment.