By Nasratu Kargbo
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has recovered over 10 billion old Leones for the Government of Sierra Leone, according to the Chairman of the committee Ibrahim Tawa Conteh.
Speaking to Journalists on the 21st of June 2024 after two weeks of public hearings during which the committee probed into issues highlighted in the 2022 Audit Report, Conteh said they are on a path of recovery, expressing their determination that monies are recovered at all costs, within the ambit of the law.
“We will continue to move aggressively. We have been able to get a complete and clean payment made for UADF that is about 10 billion, I’m not sure if the Audit Service has been able to recover that amount in two days; if you look at one of their yearly recoveries it’s around three to four billion” he said.
He further stated that they have also asked the National Revenue Authority (NRA) to go after the 3.5 billion Leones that was in transit between the Bank of Sierra Leone and Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, stating it’s now in the account.
Conteh added that they recovered other monies from suppliers that didn’t want to do a refund to the NRA.
The Deputy Speaker added he is sure that more money will be recovered when they start probing Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs), saying from the report he realized that there are so many leakages in MDAs, with some having not followed the law.
Emphasizing the level of transparency of PAC the Chairman explained that the hearings are covered by media houses and shown live for all to see and stated that they have also created a sub-committee that will be charged with the responsibility of doing follow-ups on certain issues that have been audited. The committee that will encourage media coverage comprises CSOs such as the Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) and Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL).
Responding to whether they’ve observed repetitive blunders from auditees the Chairman said they are yet to audit Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and therefore wouldn’t want to comment for now explaining that they have read the report and have realized that the issues highlighted border around withdrawals without supporting documents, transaction irregularities amongst others.
When asked whether he was allowed to probe as a member of parliament from the opposition, Deputy Leader of Opposition 2 Aaron Aruna Koroma said he has been given the leverage to do so, stressing that when they sit at the committee they do not represent their parties but Sierra Leoneans.
He said their duty is to help the government widen the fiscal space in order for the government to be capacitated with the resources to render essential services to better the lives of Sierra Leoneans.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (26/06/24)
