The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has decided that its first order of business will be to complete the examination of the Auditor General’s Report for the fiscal year 2016 and decide on the process of selection for the members of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC).
“On Monday at 10 am we will be examining three agencies in the 2016 report and looking at a few other issues such as the PPC,” PAC Chair David Patterson told Stabroek News yesterday. Patterson explained that agencies which will be examined will be the Guyana Defence Force, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and noted that so far a decision has been made to complete deliberations on the 2016 report rather than consider agencies across various years.
“Maybe from 2017 forward we can look at agencies across the years so that the PAC is examining current issues but for now this is what we have decided,” he said.
Aside from the Auditor General’s Annual Report the Committee has to examine several special investigations which have been conducted and must nominate the members of the PPC for approval by the National Assembly and appointment by the President.
Article 212X (1) of the Constitution states “the Public Procurement Commission shall consist of five members who shall have expertise and experience in procurement, legal, financial and administrative matters” and (2) “the President shall appoint the members of the Commission after such members have been nominated by the Public Accounts Committee and approved by not less than two-thirds of the elected members of the National Assembly.”
The last PAC had solicited nominations via public advertisement which began in November 2015.
A notice from Parliament Office said that it was the wish of the PAC that the composition of the PPC reflects as far as possible the social, gender and political makeup of the country. In keeping with this decision, the PAC said it was seeking names from a reasonably wide cross-section of society. It therefore invited stakeholders, political parties, civil organisations and individuals who have an interest in the establishment of the PPC to submit the names of persons eligible to be commissioners.
Five members were later approved by the Assembly and appointed to a three year tenure in October 2016. Three years later the life of the last PPC came to an end amidst a political stalemate and though President David Granger had extended the tenure of two members to four years that time also expired in October 2020.
