Failure by accounting officers to honour summonses from parliamentary committees undermines constitutional accountability, Parliament Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth has warned.
Speaker Oboth said accounting officers have a constitutional obligation to account to Ugandan’s through Parliament and should therefore respond to summonses whenever they are invited to appear before committees.
“It has come to my attention that some accounting officers are not honouring invitations to appear before committees of Parliament,” Oboth said in his communication at the start of Wednesday’s plenary sitting.
“I would like to remind all accounting officers that it is their constitutional obligation to be accountable to the citizens of this country through Parliament, where they are represented. I therefore beseech them to appear whenever summoned,” he added.
The Speaker’s remarks came as the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) struggled to advance its inquiry into alleged corruption and mismanagement at the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA).
The committee was unable to proceed as planned following the absence of UCAA Director General and accounting officer Fred K. Bamwesigye.
Oboth said appearing before parliamentary committees should not be treated as a courtesy but as an essential part of the accountability chain between government institutions and taxpayers.
His warning comes amid growing concerns over the effectiveness of parliamentary oversight when senior government officials fail to respond to committee summonses.
Parliamentary committees are mandated to scrutinise the use of public resources and the performance of government agencies, making the attendance of accounting officers critical to their work.
