No need for ministers to appear before PAC - Modubule

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) does not see the need to summon cabinet ministers as accounting officers instead of using Permanent Secretaries, as is the current practice, committee chairperson Nehemiah Modubule has said.

Addressing a press conference at end of this year’s PAC sitting Modubule said his committee has not yet discussed the matter (having cabinet ministers as accounting officers) and also should this happen it would require a change of laws that govern the committee.

“That would mean parliament has to first change laws that govern the PAC to accommodate such a change,” he said when fielding questions from the media.

Modubule also defended the powers of the committee saying those who label it, as ‘a toothless dog’ may not understand its mandate.

His argument is that the PAC is not mandated to punish anyone but to examine accounts of government ministries and departments, value for money and management performance and then present reports and recommendations to the National Assembly. The latter has the onus to implement or disregard the recommendations.

Said Modubule, “the committee shall report the results of its examinations to the assembly and make such recommendations in respect thereto as it deems fit.”

The PAC has examined 17 ministries and 11 departments from May 21st   to 20th June this 2013. The committee also made observations that generally most ministries decried inadequate budget yet total returned from all of them unspent to the government coffers amounted to P4billion.

The committee also raised concerns about write-offs on uncollected payments from different departments amounting to P8.74million something. Modubule’s committee observed that this was a deliberate waste of government money.