Public service accountability and control mechanisms in the Papua New Guinean public service are of paramount importance not only to make the public service more effective and efficient but also to make the civil servants more accountable for their actions and inactions and reward them accordingly. Despite the existence of various accpuntability mechanisms, inadequate accountability still remains the biggest problem within the public service. Moreover, problems such as lack of citizenship education as participation, ineffectiveness of the doctrine of ministerial responsibility, bureaucratic malaise such as corruption and politicization of the bureaucracy, lack of representativeness, expansion of the bureaucracy, the patron-client relationship, laxity, and avoidance of responsibility are some of the obstacles that thwart the formal control mechanisms from ensuring accountability in the public service. In conclusion, the paper states that the cooperation and commitment from both politicians and public servants is the key to strengthening accountability in the public service.
