Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
Accounting officers can be penalised for refusing to appear before PAC – Min. Teixeira warns
Kaieteur News – Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira has issued a warning to accounting officers attached to the various State Agencies that their refusal to appear before the Public Account Committee can result in them being suspended or even worse arrested.
Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Gail Teixeira
During the opening of an anti-corruption workshop held on Saturday, Teixeira told the gathering when it comes to the PAC, it is pertinent that the officers appear before the committee to answer questions over discrepancies found in the public funds highlighted in the annual audit reports.
“We have been having problems now, for example, where former (Regional Executive Officers) REOs or former Chief Accounting Officers are refusing to come before the PAC. We have powers in the PAC, for example, they can actually charge someone and also keep them suspended and arrested for one week,” Teixeira said.
This is not the first time that the Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister had raised the issue about the refusal of officers to attend the committee meetings.
The Minister had previously lamented on the absence of former Permanent Secretaries (PS) and Regional Executive Officers (REO) from sittings of the PAC, stressing that their absence can directly impact on the committee’s work.
In several instances, accounting teams when presenting themselves before the PAC body, would inform that the former PSs and REOs were not present. It is often related that they are unable to establish contact with the individuals or that the individuals are out of the jurisdiction making it impossible for them to appear before the committee.
In some cases, former accounting officers when subjecting themselves to questioning claimed they suffer from “memory loss” as they would respond to questions by saying they cannot remember.
The fact that former accounting officers have been failing to show up has been affecting progress in the review of the 2017 and 2018 Auditor General’s (AG) reports as current accounting officers are unable to provide the detailed answers during scrutiny of the report. According to Teixeira, it is unfair for the current accounting officers to be bombarded with questions on matters that they are not familiar with.
Teixeira had said, “It is very unfair to the present officers who have to answer for the tenure of another person. I would like to have a talk on that issue to consider how we will deal with it internally in the PAC.”
Fellow PAC member, Juan Edghill, had concurred with Teixeira and noted that while supporting officers or staff such as technical officers, accountants, programme managers, and engineers, are required to be accountable; they are not defined as accounting officers according to the law.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Fastest growing economy and an empty stadium
…Peeping Tom Kaieteur News- It’s a classic Guyanese tale, really. You live in the fastest growing economy in the... more
Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Weekend Cartoon
