By Crispina Taylor
Ibrahim Kamara, MP of Constituency 105, has said in parliament on Tuesday 17th November that internal auditors in Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) were supposed to be independent just like those working with the Audit Service Sierra Leone. He said over the years a lot of monies had been allocated to local government for councils for which many local authorities couldn’t account.
MP Kamara, speaking on the second day of the 2016 budget debate, said councils have not made any significant improvement in income generation despite been allocated with the necessary finances. This, he argued, called for the independence of internal auditors so that they can carry out their job in the interest of the country.
Jusufu Mansaray, MP of Constituency 67, called on the Minister of Finance Kaifala Marah to consider parliament when making allocations.
According to Mansaray, parliament had always stood by the Ministry of Finance in ratifying bills and grant whenever they were brought to the House. He said in reciprocation the minister, when doing allocations, should have factored a meaningful amount for parliament to undertake oversight activities and take care of a lot of things that needs to be looked after in the house.
Kelfala Conteh, MP of Constituency 98, observed that the Ministry of Information and Communication didn’t mention any allocation for the national broadcaster SLBC. He also urged the Finance Ministry to look into some projects in the Energy and Information and Communication ministries which have not been implemented despite having been allocated funds in 2013.
(C) Politico 17/11/15
