Uganda's Public Accounts Committee proposes membership cuts

Uganda’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has proposed reducing the membership of Parliament’s three primary accountability committees by 50 percent. The proposal also seeks to bar these members from serving on sectoral committees to prevent competing assignments from delaying the scrutiny of public expenditure.

Patrick Nsamba Oshabe, Chairperson of PAC Central, presented the plan to Parliament’s Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline. He noted that while PAC Central has 42 members, only 15 to 20 regularly participate due to members prioritizing sectoral committees, particularly during the annual budgeting process.

The proposal aims to ensure that the three committees—PAC Central, PAC Local Government, and the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE)—can meet the six-month statutory deadline for examining Auditor General reports by allowing members to focus exclusively on oversight work.