Wednesday 7 October 2009




WHEN I MET THE CHAIR OF UGANDA PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTE
The Public Accounts Committee is a committee that was set up by Parliament to scrutinize government accounts. The committee is made of 20 members that are designated by their respective party whips so that the committee has members from all parties on the basis of proportional party membership in the House. Designation on the committee also takes into consideration the interests of Independent Members. The committee is currently chaired by Budadiri West MP, Nathan Nandala Mafabi [BELOW]



PAC is one of the accountability committees that, without prejudice to sub-rule (6) of Rule No.134 is to be chaired and deputized by Members of Parliament designated by the Official Opposition Party or Organization. In its line of work, PAC's role is to scrutinize central government accounts and if it finds faults in them, it makes recommendations in a report, which is later forwarded to Parliament for debate


Ayoub mzee with the chair of the Uganda Parliamentary Public accounts committe,HON MAFABI MP


However, some members of the public are concerned that PAC's work has not been fully manifested in terms of publicizing their findings, or holding those implicate in misappropriating funds to account. But one Ssebuliba says believes PAC has done its best in ensuring proper accountability in government. He says that the committee has not only prosecuted corrupt officials but also followed up on the recommendations to be implemented on these officials



In April this year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Kuteesa was implicated in a case of irregularly securing a 1.2 billion shillings deal for Hunton and William, a PR firm in the United Kingdom from March 2005 to April 2006 to promote the image of Uganda following a hostile and negative campaign by political players and sympathizers of the Lord's Resistance Army. Kuteesa, in retaliation to the allegations, accused the committee chairperson, Nandala Mafabi, of witch hunting him because of being a member of the NRM ruling party.