A combined sum of Le65.5 Billion Leones (Sixty-Five Billion Five Hundred Million Leones) is reportedlymissing in ministries, departments and agencies of government. The financial loss has been linked to blunders on the part of government for its failure to put up the necessary structures to prevent the loss.
The current Audit Report indicated that the said sum went into payroll irregularities, payment without supporting documents, unapproved payments, imprest not retirement, unrecovered funds, irregularities in accounting for revenue among others.
ASSL (Audit Service Sierra Leone) also noted that the current financial loss also occurred in previous years, a situation responsible for the country’s under-development. Despite expert opinions that there is room for improvement in Sierra Leone’s financial situation, leakages still continue to hunt the New Direction Government.
It is a situation that renders helpless the New Direction notion of blocking financial leakages. Apart from the Le65.5 Billion that allegedly got missing, other huge sums of money remain unaccounted for.
The Audit report also looked at the cavalier attitude of government officers towards state revenue. The report also unearthed major anomalies in the banking of taxes derived from airline operations in Sierra Leone.
The sum of Le3.2 billion being taxes derived from foreign travels went missing. The money was said to have been paid in Zenith and Standard Chartered Bank accounts.
However, the report noted that no evidence showed that the money was paid into the said accounts as purported by government officials. Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA) also came under the spotlight for lack of transparency and accountability in the handling of public finances. The report indicated that SLMA failed to furnish ASSL with relevant receipt books for auditing purposes.
It also notes that: ‘A comparison between revenue recorded in the cashbook which amounted to 61.29Bn (Sixty-One Billion, Twenty-Nine Million Leones) and revenue as per bank statement amounted to Le41.5 (Forty-One Billion, Five Million Leones) resulted in a difference of Le19. 79Bn (Nineteen Billion, Seventy-Nine Million Leones). The report further paid attention to the country’s management of public expenditure.
The Findings recorded by ASSL in respect of Sierra Leone’s public expenditure were less satisfactory. The report noted that funds totalling Le1.6Bn (One Billion, Six Million Leones were withdrawn from the consolidated fund at the Bank of Sierra Leone to fund funerals of senior government officers.
Such withdrawals, the report said, were not supported by such relevant documents as payment vouchers, contracts, receipts and delivery notes. It was also discovered that allowances amounting to Le3.77 (Three Billion, Seventy-Seven Million Leones) were paid to employees without adequate supporting documents: arrear processing forms, approved salary amendment letters, request letters and recalculation sheets.
Funds withdrawn from government coffers for the funerals, the report said, were without any regulation, policy or legal instruments to justify the disbursements. Apart from the existence of policy or legal instruments, the report also indicated, there was also no evidence that shows how the finances were expended on the funerals of the deceased.
Financial activities of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) were also examined by ASSL.
It found out that top-up allowances totalling 3.1Bn (Three Billion, One Million Leones) were paid to staff in grades 2-7 in the MoF without any regulation or authorisation. The report sees withdrawals without authorisation as illegal.
“In the absence of a legal instrument, disbursements are considered illegal,” the report notes. Huge financial losses in local councils were also captured by the report.
Local Councils form the crux of the country’s local governance system. They are extremely important agenciesin the provision of essential services to local communities in Sierra Leone. In recognition of their important role they perform, the councils enjoy considerable autonomy in generating revenue to fund their operations.
Central government also provides subsidies to councils to make them viable in the performance of their duties. Councils, like any government agencies are subject to the country’s transparent and accountable mechanism.
However, the report detected a cash loss of Le5.28Bn (Five Billion, Twenty-Eight Million Leones) in 22 local councils.
The discovery, the report noted, was made after the councils submitted their financial documents for auditing.
The financial loss in the councils was seen as significant owing to its potential to wreck their financial standing. Despite the sad discovery in the management of the country’s finances by government officers, the relevant agencies in the fight against corruption notably Anti-Corruption Commission are yet to go into action.
However, the report, in its executive summary, appeals to the conscience of institutions of accountability to act and stop the leakages. The report says that recommendations are made on areas that need improvement.
It also says the implementation of the recommendations is only the first step adding that the real work begins when those responsible take the necessary actions. It insinuates that the recommendations are only made practical when government officers accused of siphoning public money are held accountable.
“It is for this reason that a key part of our work is to follow up on recommendations made in past audits in order to assess progress made on previously recommended actions,” he said.
Questions about government’s commitment to the fight against corruption are rife especially failing to go into action when the corruption red flag is raised. In 2018, President Julius Maada Bio vigorously campaigned on the platform of ending corruption in Sierra Leone.
In several public appearances, the President emphasised his zero-tolerance stance on corruption. He subscribes to the notion that corruption is not only a governance issue but a threat to national security.
Those who witness history would not hesitate to agree with the President that one of the major causes of the civil war (1991-2002) is widespread corruption. The TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report) 2004 also highlighted corruption in governance as one of those conditions that constituted elements of disorder in the evolution of the state of Sierra Leone.
Apart from the President’s view on corruption, the New Direction Manifesto, 2018 also portrays government’s commitment to the fight against corruption.
In Page-57, the manifesto says: “Corruption has been the main Achilles-heel for successive governments in Sierra Leone, and the greatest threat to national progress and development…”
The Manifesto also said that corruption had entered the highest political offices to the justice and security sectors, from the streets to the hospitals and classrooms, and in almost every sector of public life. It is against this backdrop that the New Direction promised a complete clean-up of the system upon taking over state governance.
In the campaign trails, the President promised to leave no stone unturned in its fight against corruption. The manifesto shows several ways in combating corrupt practices in the country.
It promised to commit the political leadership in the fight against corruption, and also develop value systems, and implement a robust merit and reward system in public and private life.
Failure to act on ASSL annual reports despite clean clues of corruption renders the New Direction commitment to the fight against corruption meaningless.