++THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recommenced work following a brief hiatus. The committee is now headed by APNU+AFC Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueria, after government members had expressed a loss of confidence in the former Chairman David Patterson and successfully moved a no-confidence motion against him at the full sitting of the National Assembly.

From all indications, the work of the committee is off to a good start. According to PAC member and Minister of Public Works, Juan Edgehill, some progress was made and a process of engagement has been established to deal with the Public Procurement Commission.

All of this is good news and augurs well for the accountability and stewardship of public finances by accounting officers of the several ministries and government agencies. Patterson was appointed Chairman of the PAC in December 2020, but was removed following a motion moved by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira calling for him to be removed on the grounds that he was unfit to head the PAC, which is responsible for scrutinising public spending.

The Public Accounts Committee is an important body in so far as the scrutiny of the spending of public funds is concerned and to that extent its image as a body is important. The new PAC Chairman Jermaine Figueria has reportedly expressed satisfaction with the manner in which the committee has been doing its work so far in a non-confrontational manner and in keeping with the mandate of the PAC. He indicated that he is planning the convening of at least two weekly meetings of the PAC with the aim of clearing the backlog of work.

That position coincided fully with that of the ruling PPP/C members of the committee. The government is on record as saying that it has zero-tolerance for corruption and corrupt practices. This assurance came from President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali himself when he said that his administration is committed to the strengthening of institutional capacity to improve the system of governance and making government more open and transparent, and creating avenues for greater public involvement in the process.

To give effect to that declaration, the PPP/C established the Integrity Commission, to which senior public officials are required by law to submit their income and expenditure statements annually. In addition, it was under the previous PPP/C administration that the Office of the Auditor-General was strengthened and became independent from the Minister of Finance and is now answerable to Parliament. Under the previous PNC administration, the Auditor-General’s Office was downplayed and starved of resources to execute its work programme with the result that the Auditor General’s Report was delayed for several consecutive years. It was not until the ascension to office of the PPP/ in October 1992 that reports of the Auditor General were presented to the Speaker of the National Assembly on a regular basis, which then formed the basis for the work of the of the Public Accounts Committee.

If there is one area in which both the government and the political opposition could close ranks and work together as a team, it is that of the Public Accounts Committee. Accountability and transparency in the use of public funds transcend party politics. In the final analysis, it is the taxpayers of Guyana and the society as a whole that is poorer for every act of corruption or misappropriation of public funds.

The government is fully committed to ensuring that the work of both the Office of the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee is done in keeping with their respective mandates.  And even though there is no corruption-free society in the world, it is the extent to which governments put in place the necessary measures and mechanisms to fight corruption that matters. In this regard, the current PPP/C administration has not been found wanting.