Inadequate funding hampers work of Public Interest Committee
Inadequate funding is hampering the work of the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC). The development has already resulted in the committee holding only one public meeting last year, contrary to its mandate to hold two meetings in a year.
The Chairman of the PIAC, Major Daniel Sowa Ablorh-Quarcoo (retd), stated this at the launch of the committee’s annual report on the management of petroleum revenue for 2013 in Accra last Thursday.
He said the committee could not fulfil one of its core mandates of providing space and platform to the public to debate priority spending for the next three years as the current one came to an end in September, 2013.
For the greater part of the year, he said, the committee operated with no funding for any of its planned programmes and activities.
“Not only were secretariat staff and committee members not paid any remuneration, but also, operations came to a halt for about six months,” he said.
Major Ablorh-Quarcoo said for the first time since its establishment in 2011, the committee had its budget incorporated in the national budget, adding that although 50 per cent of the budget it submitted had been approved, the committee had only received 25 per cent so far.
Oversight role
The PIAC was established under the Petroleum Revenue Management Act of 2001 (Act 815), with the mandate to, among other things, monitor and evaluate compliance with the Act by the government and other relevant institutions in the management and use of petroleum revenues and investments.
It is also to provide independent assessments of the management and use of petroleum revenues to assist Parliament and the Executive in their oversight duties and performance of related functions respectively.
Part of the Act establishing the PIAC said, “To achieve its objects, the Accountability Committee shall have its own secretariat that will facilitate the performance of its functions.”
Elsewhere the Act said, “Members of the Accountability Committee shall be paid allowances determined by the Minister and approved by Parliament.”