This is our first article in the new on-line publication Kiskadee Watch. Our previous articles were published in the Stabroek News which is no longer in existence. We will nevertheless continue in the same vein by discussing contemporary issues relating to governance, transparency and accountability.
In today’s article, we consider the following topics: (i) frequency of sittings of the National Assembly since the new session of Parliament began; (ii) the presentation of Financial Paper No. 1 of 2026 in the Assembly seeking additional funding for government programmes and activities; and (iii) appointment of members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Sittings of the National Assembly
Since the 1 September 2026 National and Regional elections, the National Assembly met on only three occasions. The first was the convening of the first session of the new Assembly on 3 November 2025, exactly four months after the dissolution of Parliament on 3 July 2025 which is the outermost date provided for by Article 69(1) of the Constitution. One would have thought that, given several priority matters facing the nation that require the attention and involvement of the Legislature, the Assembly would have convened at the earliest opportunity. But this was not to be.
At this first session, Members of Parliament took the oath of office, including Mr. Azruddin Mohamed from the WIN party, which had won the second largest number of votes at the elections. However, for some unexplained reason, Mr. Mohamed was not sworn as the Leader of the Opposition, leaving citizens to speculate as to the real reason for this unprecedented practice. It was not until 27 January 2026 at a short session of the Assembly that Mr. Mohamed took the oath of office as the Leader of the Opposition after numerous calls from local stakeholders for the appointment to be made. The Leader of the Opposition, it is to be noted, plays an important role in the governance arrangements of the country, as stipulated in the various articles of our Constitution.
The second sitting of the Assembly was in February 2026 to approve of the National Budget which was passed on 15 February 2026. Less than four months on, the Assembly met for a third time on 5 June 2026 where several Bills were presented, including Financial Paper No. 1 of 2026 -Supplementary Appropriation Bill. It therefore means that for nine months, the Assembly effectively met on only three occasions, the last being after the diplomatic community in Guyana raised concerns about the non-functioning of Guyana’s legislative body. One worders what would have happened, had the diplomatic community not spoken out against this undesirable practice. It is most disheartening to note that every so often the Government ignores the voices of citizens on particular issues only to act in the swiftest possible way when the international community intervenes! The failure to convene Parliament in a timely manner runs against the grain of good governance as well as democratic norms and values.
Financial Paper No. 1 of 2026 – Supplementary Appropriation Bill
Section 24 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability (FMA) Act authorizes the Minister of Finance to seek Supplementary Estimates in situations where the reallocation of funds within the original estimates has been exhausted. The format for the related Bill must be the same as the Appropriation Act. Additionally, the Minister must provide reasons for the proposed variations as well as a supplementary document describing the impact of such variations on the financial plan in the annual budget.
On 16 February 2026, the Assembly approved of a budget for 2026 in the sum of $1.558 trillion. Less than four months later, the Minister tabled Financial Paper No. 1 of 2026 seeking the approval of the Assembly for an additional $54.889 billion. Of this amount, $19.087 billion relates to the Gas-to-Power Project. This is 178 percent increase on the original estimate of $10.717 billion which comprises local and foreign financing of $2.615 billion and $8.101 billion, respectively. Since the supplementary request is to be funded from local resources, it raises the important question about the extent of the assessment of the financial resources needed for the Project at the time the budget was crafted. Is it now a question where the specifications changed in less than four months, requiring this massive outlay of additional resources?
That apart, the Minister continues to present requests for supplementary estimates without adherence to the requirements of the FMA Act as regards the additional document that describes the impact the variations will have on the financial plan in the annual budget. Nor does he indicate how much of the original budget was expended at the time the request is made. What is surprising also is that parliamentarians do not consider these as important issues before approving additional resources.
During his inaugural address on 7 September 2025, the President stated that electricity tariffs will be halved by virtue of the Gas-to-Energy Project coming on stream. The project commenced in 2022 at an estimated cost of $104 billion, with a completion date of December 2024, which date was revised to June 2026, this month-end. Volume III of the 2026 Estimates now show a new planned completion date of December 2027, and a revised estimated cost is $276.823 billion, a massive 266 percent increase.
As of 31 December 2025, amounts totalling $258.196 billion, or 93.27 percent of the revised budget, were expended. However, as of September 2025, it was reported that the Project was 68 percent complete. Considering the $19.087 billion request for supplementary estimates and well as additional resources to be included in the 2027 Estimates, the cost of the Project is likely to hit the $400 billion mark which will be four times the original estimate made in 2022!
Appointment of members of the PAC
At the 5 June 2026 session, several parliamentary committees were constituted, including the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). It will be recalled that the PAC’s last report on the public accounts of Guyana was in respect of combined years 2017 and 2018. The Committee is therefore six years in arrears in terms of its scrutiny of the public accounts and reporting back to the Assembly setting out its findings and recommendations. In the circumstances, the public is unaware of what actions the Government has taken to address the findings of the Committee and implement its recommendations. This is usually done via the issuance of a Treasury Memorandum within 90 days of the tabling of the Committee’s report.
On several occasions, we had cause to point out that public accountability does not end with the tabling of the Auditor General’s report in the Assembly and that the two important additional steps referred to above are needed to complete the public accountability cycle. Considering this, the Government has failed to fully discharge its financial accountability stewardship since 2018. Opposition Member of Parliament, Mr. Ganesh Mahipaul, pointed out that it is the responsibility of the Speaker to convene the initial meeting of the PAC to elect the chairperson. However, it is unclear when this will be done.
In 2022, there was a quorum change from three members (inclusive of the chairperson) to five members – two from the Government’s side, two from the Opposition and the chairperson. The Government’s rationale for the change was that a larger quorum with representation from both sides of the House would enable the PAC to function more impartially. On the other hand, the Opposition contended that the change was an attempt to stymie the Committee’s work to bring its backlogged examination of the public accounts up-to-date. As it turned out, the Opposition was right in that on several occasions, PAC meetings had to be aborted because of the absence of Government members. It is also undesirable for sitting Ministers to be on the Committee because of possible conflict of interest, especially when the PAC scrutinizes the accounts of the Ministries and Departments for which they are subject Ministers. The Auditor General would also be hard-pressed to be as critical as he would like to be of a Ministry or Department, knowing full well that the subject Minister is sitting on the Committee.
Discussion