According to a press release from the National Assembly, the purpose is to examine the accounts of government for the financial year ended 31 March 2012 in line with Standing Order 105.3 of the National Assembly. The accounts that are examined include the annual statements of accounts and the accounts of Special Funds. The accounting officers or Permanent Secretaries will be examined on progress made on issues raised in the PAC report for the financial year 2010/2011.
The meeting is held in public to enhance the committee's oversight role and the accountability process and to promote public participation. In this space a few weeks ago we hailed this development as welcome. This is because we argued then that this country is regressing to the Stone Age as far as enactment of a Freedom of Information (FOI) law is concerned. Coverage of this meeting has been an eye-opener to the public and members of the media. Led by their chairperson Nehemiah Modubule, the PAC members are doing a sterling job in as far as scrutinising annual statements of accounts is concerned. Although accounting officers are senior civil servants, who wield so much power, and to some degree political appointees, the PAC does not regard them as sacred cows.
