Accountability bodies face hurdles

Whereas Article 90(1) of the Constitution mandates Parliament to appoint committees necessary for efficient discharge of its functions, Article 90(2) of the Constitution empowers Parliament, through its rules of procedure, to prescribe the powers, compositions and functions of its committees.
And in Article 163(4) and (5) of the Constitution, Parliamentary Accountability Committees are mandated to consider Auditor’s General Reports and make recommendations to improve government’s management of public resources.
Section 88(1) of Local Government Act CAP 243 establishes the Local Government Public Accounts Committee (LGPACs) in every district while Section 88(7) of the same Act mandates it to examine the reports of the Auditor General, Chief Internal Auditor and any report of Commission of Inquiry. Section 88(8) of the Act requires LGPACs to submit their reports to the district council and to the Minister for Local Government, who shall lay the report before Parliament.

District public accounts committees (DPACs) should ensure integrity, honesty and accountability in the acquisition and expenditure of public resources by public officers. LGPACs play vital roles and contribute towards fighting corruption in local governments. It also ensures that district resources are not wasted, but used to provide services that local communities need to improve their wellbeing.
It is disturbing to know that these accountability structures are not receiving the required support in terms of funding and respect and their recommendations are often ignored.

Thus strengthening of LGPACs is one of the sure ways of improving the performance and service delivery by the local governments to the citizens of Uganda. Therefore, the challenges LGPACs face ranging from inadequate funding to lack of coordination needs to be urgently fixed.
This continues to see the two committees work independently in that the reports of the DPACs are challenged by PAC and this affects the work of the duo.
Moses Okoed,
[email protected]