Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has urged Public Accounts Committees (PACs) across Africa to strengthen their relationship with the media to ensure that the outcomes of parliamentary investigations into public financial management are made known to citizens.
He said the media should be regarded as partners in the accountability process because their work could help expose financial misconduct, track the implementation of audit recommendations and compel public officials to account for their stewardship.
Addressing the opening of the African Organisation of Public Accounts Committees (AFROPAC) Conference and General Meeting in Accra, Mr. Bagbin said the work of PACs should go beyond summoning public officials, questioning them and presenting reports to Parliament.
He stressed that the ultimate objective of parliamentary oversight should be to produce measurable results, including the recovery of public funds, prevention of financial misconduct and prosecution of officials found culpable.
“You have to work with the media. It must be your friends,” he told members of the Public Accounts Committees.
Mr. Bagbin questioned the effectiveness of PACs when their investigations and recommendations failed to produce visible outcomes, saying Ghanaians and other Africans needed to understand the results of their work.
He said the public must be informed about how much money had been recovered through parliamentary oversight, measures taken to prevent the misapplication or embezzlement of public funds, and reforms introduced to improve financial management systems.
He also called for greater public awareness of the fate of officials implicated in financial misconduct, including whether they had been investigated, prosecuted, convicted or acquitted.
“These are things that must come out so that Ghanaians can see the relevance, the Africans can see the relevance, and the importance of the public responsibility,” he said.
The Speaker observed that PACs submitted several reports to Parliament and faced considerable challenges in their work, but the public often remained unaware of what happened after the reports were presented.
He expressed concern that some reports were not debated on the floor of Parliament because of delays in government business, leaving citizens without information about the findings and actions taken.
Mr. Bagbin said effective collaboration with the media and other accountability partners could help address the information gap and ensure that the results of parliamentary investigations received the necessary public attention.
He maintained that PAC hearings should not become public spectacles where officials were invited to answer questions without any follow-up action to address the financial irregularities uncovered.
The AFROPAC conference was held under the theme, “Oversight for Resilience: Strengthening Public Accounts Committees for Accountability in a Changing Financial Landscape.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu