PAC performed poorly under Ali 

…Patterson says body met 44 times in 5 years, only 22% of the work completed

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), David Patterson said based on a status report provided by the Parliament of Guyana on the work of the PAC, the committee met 44 times in five (5) years during the 11th Parliament.
It therefore means, the PAC, under the stewardship of its then Chairman, Irfaan Ali, met 44 times out of a possible 202 meeting days, a shortfall of 78%.

“The last meeting was August 6, 2018 – some 18 months ago,” Patterson, an A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Member of Parliament, pointed out, while adding that “as of that date, PAC only examined up to 2016 accounts – which means that the work of the committee is almost four years behind.”

The incoming Chairman of the PAC, in a Facebook post, expressed concern that a date for the meeting of the PAC has not been set.
“Despite several attempts, we are still to be informed as to the date of the first meeting of the PAC for this new parliament, no reason for this delay has been provided – however, the APNU+AFC members have all indicated to the parliament that we stand available, even at short notice to attend any meeting,” Patterson said.

Notably, Patterson has moved to the High Court to quash the decision of the National Assembly to approve funds for 23 Constitutional Offices, in particular the Audit Office of Guyana, in breach of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act of 2015. On September 1, 2020, the House approved $11.2B for the Constitutional Agencies.

In a Fixed Date Application (FDA), Patterson asked the High Court to make a total of seven declarations and orders, chief among them, is a declaration for the budget approved for the Constitutional Offices and in particular, the Audit Office, to be nullified.
“A declaration that the consideration and or approval of the Budget and or Budget Proposal of the Audit Office of Guyana without the prior submission to the National Assembly by the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee is bad in law, null and of no legal effect and a breach of Section 80 B (2) of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act of 2015,” Patterson prayed for in his application.

It is Patterson’s contention that the Budget approved by the National Assembly for Constitutional Offices on September 1, 2020 is in breach of Section 80 B (2) of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act. He also wants the Court to declare that failure to circulate the Budget Proposals of the Constitutional Agencies to APNU+AFC Member of Parliament before September 1, is also a breach of the Accountability Act.

It is being argued that while Section 80 B (1) of the Fiscal Management and Accountability (Amendment) Act mandates that the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee to submit the Budget of the Audit Office to Parliament, no such submission was made by Patterson, because the Government had already usurped his authority.