Zanzibar’s CAG apologises to the House of Representatives

Unguja. Zanzibar’s CAG, Dr Othman Abbas Ali, has apologised to the House of Representatives on Monday, June 12, following a recent remark that its members were incompetent.

In today's meeting, the Speaker, Zubeir Ali Maulid, told the House after the question and answer session that the CAG had sought an audience with him and admitted that his statement had caused confusion.

"The CAG has admitted that he was wrong, so he has apologized to the Honorable Speaker of the House of Representatives, the PAC Committee and the LAAC Committee (Government Accounts Control Committees), and all honorable members of this council in general," said Speaker Zubeir as members applauded.

Speaker Zubeir said that because of the CAG’s sincere actions of seeking the audience's apologies for his actions, he has made them agree with him, and he is satisfied to give his guidance as requested.

The apology came after the members in the House of Representatives meeting on June 5, 2023, asked for the guidance of the Speaker, asking the CAG to apologize to the house for calling its members incompetent.

The guidance was requested by the Chairman of the PAC Committee, Juma Ali Khatib, who said that the CAG made statements that show that they humiliated and disrespected the honorable council, especially through its committees, and that they are not capable of working on its reports, including the ICT report, when CAG Abbas was presenting the annual audit report for 2021–2022, on June 3, 2023, at State House, Zanzibar.

Another member who contributed to the motion was the Chairperson of the LAAC Committee, Mwanaasha Khamis Juma, and the Chairman of the Rules Committee of the House of Representatives, Mihayo Juma Nun'ga, who said Zanzibar’s Constitution of 1984, Article 5, states that the nation will have three pillars, including the Executive, the Judiciary, and the House of Representatives, without interfering.

However, one day after the representatives asked for the directives from the speaker, when the CAG was called by this newspaper in his office despite claiming that he does not want to be interviewed by the media about the issues of his report, he said, in short, that the representatives are enjoying themselves.

It was, however, determined that the root cause of the controversy was after the CAG wrote one of the reports of his audit in English, which was against the regulations of the House of Representatives.