As a number of dangerous audit reports are going after the New Direction Government, senior public officials are exploring numerous ways to block the 2020 Audit Report.
The current report, a reliable source has told this press is more dangerous than previous reports.
The report many say would go a long way to smear the image of SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) Government in years to come.
The authorities who are jittery of the dangers the report would cause have taken on the highly respected, Auditor-General, Lara Taylor Pearce.
Senior Government Officials have persistently gone at loggerheads with Mrs Pearce urging her to go.
But, the ASSL Chief was duly appointed under the laws of Sierra Leone and she has committed no crime that warrants to go.
Sierra Leone belongs to Sierra Leoneans, and the Auditor-General’s job is a service to society and humanity in general. It is a profession she chooses to contribute to nation building as a woman of virtue, integrity and humility.
Since the firebrand Auditor-General is not willing to go, some highly placed government officials have insistently resorted to intimidating and bringing up allegations against her.
The Auditor-General is currently accused by Sierra Leone’s procurement regulating body, National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) to have been flouting procurement rules guiding the award of contract.
A letter seen by this press has shown that since 2015, the Auditor-General failed to comply with competitive bidding rules in the award of ASSL contracts.
“We must point out that…in relation to the selection and hiring of audit firms to undertake audit services for and on behalf of ASSL. Our records did not show any proof that the ASSL employed any accepted procurement processes such as approved by a procurement committee on the method of selecting a sole consultant as stipulated in section 46(2) of the Public Procurement Act,” the letter reads.
The Attorney-General’s office has been notified of the allegations against Madam Lara Taylor Pearce for appropriate legal actions.
The AG’s office is yet to respond as to whether ASSL would be investigated or not. The current allegation is just one of a series of allegations against Mrs Pearce. Almost two weeks ago, the Auditor-General was accused of wrongly spending moneys collected from ministries, departments and agencies for audit exercises.
Although the Auditor-General has successfully defended herself using the country’s laws, the allegations still remain topics for discussion among some government officials.
Apart from allegations trumpeted against head of ASSL, Mrs Pearce recently was in deep controversy with Sierra Leone’s anti-graft agency, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The controversy between ACC and ASSL was about contradiction made by the former against the latter’s report. In the 2020 Special Audit Report on the use of COVID-19 funds, Madam Pearce indicated that a brand new generator donated by the people of China to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation had been misappropriated.
Almost invariably, 47 laptop computers which were procured by NACOVERC (National COVID-19 Emergency Response Centre), the lead campaigner against Corona Virus Disease were not the ones specified. After the report came out, the ACC carried out covert investigations to ascertain ASSL’s claims.
After weeks of investigation, ACC organised a press briefing at the Cathedral House in Freetown where he challenged ASSL’s findings about NACOVERC and Ministry of Health and Sanitation. The ACC indicated that the generator which was found in a hospital in Zimmi Magbele in Pujehun district was the one donated by China.
Similar challenge was also done by the ACC in respect of the computers.
As ACC’s defensive technique continues, other burning issues were also taken to parliament in respect of procurement activities embarked upon by several government agencies. NACOVERC was accused in the ASSL report of a flawed procurement of 30 vehicles that were to be used in the campaign against the virus.
Head of NPPA, Ibrahim Swarray was in parliament to defend NACOVERC. Swarray told parliamentarians that the procurement of the vehicles was within procurement laws and regulations.
He further stated that NACOVERC was also compliant with the price norm.
NPPA’s defence shielded NACOVERC from criminal investigations being the norm for those accused of corruption. ACC, an agency which has achieved fame and glory in Africa is slowly denting its image through defensive tactics embarked upon in recent times.
The agency must be seen investigating issues raised by ASSL reports as well as reports from credible institutions. It is hoped that ACC would give the public service a professional outlook if issues raised in audit reports are looked into with seriousness. Most members of the public have argued that the defensive position taken by the ACC in recent times have defeated its stance it earlier adopted to curb corruption in Sierra Leone.
Head of ACC, Ben Kaifala had earlier assured the public that audit reports would no longer be treated as mere opinions.
“The days in which audit report are treated as mere opinions are far gone,” he assured.
The statement means that ACC would investigate any claim of corruption made in audit reports. The assurance however is turning into a mere rhetoric as the ACC, instead of prosecuting is defending government agencies.
The defensive strategies provided by ACC and NPPA for agencies named in the report do not bode well for a country that yearns for high standards of transparency and accountability.
Sierra Leone still remains a donor-driven nation after 19 years of a devastating civil war.
Almost 40% of the country’s national budget comes from donors. The donor community would not like to see their money squandered or stashed away by fraudulent or dishonest politicians or public officials. The high level of corruption in the country has been attributed to the absence of a strong accountability and transparency mechanism.
The ACC can act only if the country gets credible information from the public especially institutions of accountability notably the ASSL.
A local activist and teacher of good years standing, Yusif Bangura has told this press that the former government has never embarked on any move to confront the Auditor-General no matter how damaging an audit report was.
“Audit reports are not meant to challenged and criticised by public institutions such as the ACC and NPPA. The reports are whistle blowers for the ACC to investigate and can prosecute if there is evidence,” Bangura said.
He said NPPA is making the worst case in the defence spree. He says the agency is a mere regulatory agency which must work in concert with ASSL.
Any report produced by ASSL must be thoroughly looked into by NPPA and make the necessary amends. “The reports of ASSL must serve as a source of inspiration for NPPA,” Bangura sums it all.
See next edition.