The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has adopted a longstanding proposal by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) to examine the Auditor General’s reports for 2020 to 2024 side by side, in a move aimed at clearing a five-year backlog and bringing parliamentary scrutiny of public expenditure up to date.
The development was announced in a statement issued by APNU, which said the decision followed years of advocacy by the parliamentary opposition for the committee to adopt the approach.
According to the statement, the motion was moved by Minister Juan Edghill, a government representative on the PAC, despite his previous objections to APNU’s recommendation that multiple audit reports be examined simultaneously to reduce the time needed to clear the backlog.
APNU parliamentarians have consistently argued that reviewing the reports side by side would allow the committee to identify recurring financial irregularities, follow up on unresolved matters from previous years and improve the efficiency of its oversight.
During a press conference earlier this year, APNU MP Ganesh Mahipaul defended the proposal, arguing that the approach would help the committee reduce the time spent examining the reports.
“Minimise the time used to examine the reports,” Mahipaul said, outlining the rationale behind the recommendation.
APNU MP Juretha Fernandes also highlighted the importance of comparing successive reports, particularly where unresolved issues continue to appear in subsequent audits.
“A lot of times you would have follow-ups and previous year matters repeating itself coming forward,” Fernandes explained.
The proposal had previously faced opposition from PPP/C members. In 2022, government representatives objected when a similar side-by-side examination was proposed for the 2019 and 2020 Auditor General’s reports.
APNU said it had maintained that examining the reports individually, amid an accumulating backlog, would delay accountability and make it increasingly difficult to pursue matters involving older public expenditure. The party also raised concerns that statutes of limitation could restrict action on historical financial irregularities.
The PAC’s latest decision means the committee will now examine five years of audit reports covering the period 2020 to 2024 under the proposed approach.
The Auditor General’s reports are central to parliamentary oversight of public finances, identifying weaknesses in financial management, questionable expenditure, accounting discrepancies and other matters requiring explanations from ministries and government agencies.
The PAC is responsible for examining those findings and holding public officials accountable for the management and use of state resources.
APNU described the adoption of its proposal as a necessary procedural reform. However, the effectiveness of the approach will ultimately depend on whether the committee can move beyond reviewing the reports and ensure that outstanding audit concerns receive meaningful follow-up and appropriate action.
The party has maintained that the side-by-side examination is necessary to prevent parliamentary oversight from remaining years behind and to ensure that recurring audit findings are not allowed to go unaddressed.
