The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly, yesterday, issued an ultimatum for head of parastatals to submit their annual reports to the National Assembly, by June 14.

The deadline was in exercise of the provisions of Section 102 (a-e), and Section 109 (1-3), Section (175)(5) of the 1997 Constitution.

The ultimatum was announced at a meeting summoned by the committee at the National Assembly Chambers, attended by several heads of parastatals and permanent secretaries, amid the “non-compliance” by parastals to timely submit their annual reports to the legislature, as provided in the laws.

In a communique, Mrs Fatoumatta Jahumpa-Ceesay, Speaker of the National Assembly, who doubles as the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, said the move by the committee should not be misinterpreted as a “witch hunt”, but an enforcement of the powers conferred on the National Assembly by the Constitution.

Speaker Jahumpa-Ceesay, said the annual reports, including financial statements and accounts, should be summitted by the said date, saying “the various committees of the National Assembly shall commence deliberation in earnest over the reports and accounts of public enterprises and agencies. If any parastatal fails to meet the ultimatum, then we will forward the case to the higher level,” she warned.

However, she commended the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Ombudsman, for honouring and delivering their reports on time. She said as the Speaker, she is not bothered by “non-performance and non-conformity of yester-years, but what they intend to do now is to put in place mechanisms that will ensure timely delivery of reports and honour those who do so on time. Therefore, it is our statutory duty to make you all socially, legally and financially accountable to the Gambian tax payers,” she added.

She warned that her office would not hesitate to invoke the provisions of Section 109 and Section 110 of the Constitution, to ensure strict compliance.

Speaker Jahumpa-Ceesay, then expressed disappointment over what she described as deliberate absentism of some permanent secretaries, whose department of states have many parastatals under them. “This is deliberate, as even the Secretary-General and Head of Civil Service, did send a representive, who happens to be the Secretary to Cabinet present here.”

For his part, Fabakary Tombong Jatta, Majority Leader and a member of the Public Accounts Committee, amplified that the move should not be seen as a ‘witch hunt’ but a dialogue to pave the way forward. “We all know the bottlenecks you sometimes face, but you should be free to engage with us (NAMs) as representatives of the people,” he noted.

He urged heads of parastatals to attend the National Assembly sessions, especially adjournment debates, as it is an opportune moment for them to hear the concerns raise by NAMs for public officials to accord the Assembly the respect it deserves.

Momodou Sanneh, Minority Leader and also a member of the committee, urged the institutions to emulate the IEC by submitting their annual reports on time.

Sedia Jatta, NAM for Wuli West, described the move as a new approach that will serve as a reminder to comply with the constitutional mandate to submit reports. He added: “So if we keep ourselves to such mandates, then it will greatly help the NAMs to deliberate on such national issues accurately.”

Sellu Bah, NAM for Basse, commended the Speaker for the initiative, saying for the past 10 years, NAMs had been complaint about failure to submit reports. “From 1998 to 2004, most public enterprises did not submit their reports,” he frowned.

Junaidi Jallow, acting Ombudsman, described the move as laudable. Mr Jallow said reports from the public enterprises to the National Assembly cannot be oversight.

However, he said his office faces constraints, ranging from office equipment, printing costs, and vehicles, for smooth running of his institution.

According to Mr Jallow, he had to once travel to Basse on a commercial vehicle on an official mission that took him 26 hours to reach his destination.

In her reply, Speaker Jahumpa-Ceesay said the National Assembly has played its part, before forwading the report to the appropiate office. In his addendum, Hon Sedia Jatta, urged Mr Jallow to include such expenses in their annual budget estimates.