Gota’s Account Controversy And The Division Of Financial Responsibility

By R.M.B Senanayake -February 1, 2015

R.M.B Senanayake

The Division of Financial Responsibility and Accountability between the Minister and his officials must be in the law 

Good governance is seen by economists as a key factor in ensuring national development and prosperity. It must find expression through indicators like reliability, predictability and accountability of decision-making. It involves such factors as the rule of law, transparency, accountability and public service ethics.

Financial Accountability

Accountability can be understood in two senses. In a narrow, technical sense it refers to the duty of the head of a department to account as ‘accounting officer’ to his or her Minister, the Auditor-General, and finally the Public Accounts Committee.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa

 At a basic level accountability means ‘to give an account’ of actions or policies, or ‘to account for’ spending and so forth. On a wider understanding accountability can be said to require a person to explain and justify – against criteria of some kind – their decisions or actions (D Oliver ‘Law, Politics and Accountability’ (1994) Public Law 238 at 246). It also requires that the person goes on to make amends for any fault or error and takes steps to prevent its recurrence in the future.Read More