The Alliance For Change reaffirms its commitment to support the Anti Money Laundering/ Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill. Our position has not changed.
The Alliance For Change reaffirms its commitment to support the Anti Money Laundering/ Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill. Our position has not changed.
About one year ago we made it clear to the Government that we would give the Bill our support if they operationalize the Public Procurement Commission. That position has been well documented and we stand by it. By ‘operationalising’ we mean that all Parties must submit to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament, their nominees for the Commission. The PAC will recommend and the House will approve the five persons to serve as Commissioners. The President will then administer the Oath of Office to install those five persons as Commissioners of the Public Procurement Commission. A financial allocation will then be provided for the Commission to do its work.
It has been almost one year that the Government has dilly-dallied and refused to work with us to have the PPC set up. Be reminded that this is a Constructional Office and ought never to have reached the stage where the Opposition is forced to bargain with the Government for its establishment. Nevertheless, the AFC will take this route if that is the only way that the government will feel compelled to uphold Article 212W of the Constitution which states, “…there shall be a Public Procurement Commission.”
It must be noted that nominees for the Procurement Commission must get approval by the House by at least a two-thirds majority. Given this, the Alliance For Change has strongly urged the Government to work with APNU to reach a compromise position and has pushed for a tripartite arrangement to reach compromise. The Public Procurement Commission ultimately cannot be established without the support of all three political parties in Parliament.
The AFC is an independent party but recognises that all Parliamentary Parties have a role to play in the decision making process and the concerns of each must be addressed.
We have noted the recent statements by the PPPC Government and reiterate that our position on the AML Bill has not changed. As an indication that the Government is sincere about setting up the Procurement Commission, we would hope to see then submit their nominees soonest as this is fundamental to moving the process forward.
The Alliance For Change since last week put forward as a compromise, amendments to Section 54 of the Procurement Act which provides for Cabinet’s role in the award of contracts over $15 million. This was shared with Government through the Attorney General, the Private Sector Commission and with the Media who widely reported on the suggested amendments. We note with alarm that at yesterday’s meeting the President seemed unaware of this. We continue to await a response from the Government on the suggested amendment.
The faster we operationalize the Public Procurement Commission, the closer we are to passing the AML/CFT Bill.
We await the Government’s action.
