By Ragan M. Conteh
One of the lawmakers representing Constituency 042, in Koinadugu District, Hon. Lahai Marah, has informed in one of his social media platforms that, the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) has no business with the Auditor General’s Report.
According to Hon. Marah, you can only have an Auditor General after Parliamentary approval, that is, according to section 119 (1) of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone.
He went further that the Auditor General shall, within twelve months of the proceeding Financial Year, submit his report to Parliament according to the section 119 (4) of the 1991 Constitution.
Hon. Marah pointed out that Parliament, after debating the report, shall appoint a committee to deal with any matters arising there from, which could also be found in section 119 (5) of the 1991 Constitution.
He however stated that this present Parliament, under the watch of Speaker Chernoh Abass Bundu, is nothing, but a complete rubber stamp. “Is ACC using the Audit Report?” He asked.
Other responses from citizens have stated that Hon. Lahai Marah’s concerns might be in good faith, but the usual procedure of debating and ratifying those previous Reports was never yielding fruits as very little or none of its recommendations were acted upon.
They said they should give this approach of the ACC, acting on those loopholes and recommendations in the Report, maybe they will get something out of it.
They however said, “But, again, if the ACC can do preliminary actions on individual reports, why not on an institution’s documentation?” One of the citizens asked.