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PAC work hamstrung by absent Govt. members – Mahipaul
…Teixeira says not compulsory to meet every week
Opposition MP Ganesh Mahipaul
Kaieteur News-The Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) work has been hamstrung but the constant cancellation of meetings due to absent government members, Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) representative Ganesh Mahipaul said.
However, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and PAC member, Gail Teixeira said that the PAC has been functioning optimally in the circumstances.
This is not the first time Mahipaul has complained of absenteeism by the government side of the Committee.
In a public missive, Mahipaul noted that the PAC of the 12th Parliament of Guyana continues to face deliberate obstruction by the absenteeism of government representatives.
“This critical oversight body, designed to ensure accountability and transparency in public expenditure, has been rendered virtually ineffective due to the government’s calculated tactics,” Mahipaul said.
According to Mahipaul, the imposition of the controversial and arbitrary motion requiring two government members to form a quorum is nothing short of a deliberate effort to hamstring the PAC’s work.
He explained that the requirement has created a situation where meetings are dictated solely by the availability of government members, resulting in a troubling pattern of convening only once a month.
“Such a slow pace undermines the PAC’s mandate and raises serious concerns about the government’s commitment to democratic oversight,” Mahipaul said adding that the deliberate delays appear to be a strategy to avoid scrutiny of the Auditor General’s reports for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023—reports that have revealed alarming levels of corruption and incompetence under the PPP/C administration.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and PAC member, Gail Teixeira
At this rate, he believes the PAC risks never examining the expenditures of this 2020-2025 government, further eroding trust in the parliamentary oversight process.
Mahipaul suggested that “A government that loudly proclaims its superiority to the APNU+AFC administration should welcome regular and robust PAC meetings as a demonstration of its transparency and accountability. Instead, its actions suggest a deliberate avoidance of scrutiny, raising the specter of a regime intent on concealing its mismanagement and corruption.”
Mahipaul said that by stalling its operations, the government is not only undermining these principles but also exhibiting autocratic tendencies that threaten the foundations of good governance in Guyana.
“The PAC is a cornerstone of democratic governance and a critical tool for ensuring accountability…We call on the government to cease these obstructive tactics immediately and facilitate the PAC’s unhindered operation. Transparency and accountability are not optional—they are non-negotiable obligations in a functioning democracy. The people of Guyana deserve nothing less,” he said.
In response to Mahipaul, Minister Teixeira explained that “It is not compulsory that the PAC meets every week. However, we have met more in 12th parliament more than the last parliament. We have been putting in the work to cover the reports that are currently before the PAC but what has been hampering us is the lack of documents that correspond with the information published in those reports.”
The minister noted that many times agencies appear before the Committee without “the relevant document and then sometimes, they fail to present themselves before the committee so there is this back and forth between us that is causing some of the delay.”
“We want to do the work but we have to do it comprehensively,” she assured.
(PAC work hamstrung by absent Govt. members – Mahipaul)
- Absenteeism, audit report, Democracy, Government spending, PAC, parliamentary oversight committee, PPPC
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