Let wisdom prevail, says former CAG
What you need to know:
Former Controller and Auditor General (CAG) Ludovick Utouh has termed the ongoing spat between the Speaker of Parliament Mr Job Ndugai and CAG Prof Mussa Assad as “a complex issue” and asked for wisdom to prevail in its handling.
Dar es Salaam. Former Controller and Auditor General (CAG) Ludovick Utouh has described the ongoing spat between the Speaker of Parliament Mr Job Ndugai and CAG Prof Mussa Assad as “a complex issue” and appealed for wisdom to prevail in its handling.
Mr Utouh said there was need for calm as the two sides address the issue. “For Speaker to seek an audience with the CAG is normal,” Utouh said yesterday. “It’s the manner in which that audience is sought (that’s questionable).”
Mr Ndugai has ordered Prof Assad to appear before a Parliamentary Privileges, Ethics and Powers Committee on January 21, 2019.
Following Mr Ndugai’s order, some legal experts were of the opinion that interrogation by the committee cannot yield anything meaningful, arguing that while Parliament has powers to summon anybody before it for questioning, it has no powers to hire or fire a Controller and Auditor General.
But according to the chairperson of the committee Mr Emmanuel Mwakasaka CAG must respond to the call for no one is above the law.
He added: “Even if someone has immunity which says that you cannot be prosecuted, there are exceptions. No immunity is absolute. It has its limits.”
