The Governance-Efficacy Gap: Evaluating Audit Committee Effectiveness and the Challenge of Decoupling in the Mauritian Public Sector

Abstract This study provides a critical analysis of the operational effectiveness of Audit Committees (ACs) within the Mauritian Civil Service against their recognized mandate. While the establishment of ACs, required by the Finance and Audit Act (2015) and governed by the Office of Public Sector Governance (OPSG) Audit Committee Handbook (2023), aligns Mauritius as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) with international governance trends, recurrent reports by the National Audit Office (NAO) indicate persistent operational deficiencies. Drawing on Agency Theory to evaluate independence and Institutional Theory to explain structural conformity without substantive change (decoupling), this conceptual paper identifies a critical governance-efficacy gap. The analysis highlights three main failures: (i) compromised AC independence due to internal recruitment practices, (ii) a structural mismatch between required technical competency and generic training provision, and (iii) operational rigour overwhelmingly focused on procedural compliance and ex-post audit follow-up rather than strategic risk oversight. This ineffectiveness is underscored by the Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance (MFSGG)'s own need to prepare an Implementation Plan to address the Director of Audit’s comments for previous financial years (2021/2022 and 2022/2023). The paper argues that without immediate reforms, including mandatory external majority membership and specialized risk-governance training, ACs risk remaining symbolic entities. Five actionable policy recommendations are proposed to improve public sector accountability and integrity in Mauritius. Keywords: Audit Committee; Public Sector Governance; Mauritius; Small Island Developing States (SIDS); Accountability; Agency Theory; Institutional Theory; Decoupling.