The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has ordered the immediate arrest of Doreen Katusiime, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, for reportedly failing to appear before the committee.

PS Katusiime was accused of habitually refusing to respond to accountability queries and instead delegating her roles to her juniors in the ministry.

MP Muwanga Kivumbi (Butambala County), the Chairperson PAC, said they were informed that Katusiime took her annual leave a few days before the scheduled meeting with Parliament.

He adds that the Committee was forced to issue summons for the arrest of Katusiime after the clerk to the Committee revealed that the Permanent Secretary pulled a similar move last year, forcing the Committee to consider the audit report of the Ministry of Tourism.

Kivumbi said his decision was meant to put an end to her disrespectful behavior.

“This is a habitual person in terms of dodging Parliament and accountability committees, and because of her behavior, the Committee was forced to consider the report without her appearance, and she is back at it again, same trick, same personality,” MP Kivumbi said.

He cautioned public servants to desist from undermining the roles of Parliament in playing oversight roles.

“This business of wasting our time will not be tolerated. That is the way she has been behaving. She will not get you off that easy because she is doing this deliberately. The MPs were asked to come here; Parliament is in recess, and they are here to do their job, only to be made to look like fools by the actions of one person. I don’t want us to waste our time,” he added.

The committee is currently probing the Gorilla and Chimpanzee permit fraud in the Ministry of Tourism that happened last year. As a result, several top officials have been summoned.