By Saio Marrah
The parliament of Sierra Leone is set to investigate the office of the Ombudsman over suspected irregularities and financial mismanagement.
The decision to investigate the institution was prompted by its inability to clearly account for monies allocated to it in the 2020 financial year.
It came following recommendation by the leader of government business in parliament, Mattew Sahr Nyuma, for the 2021 budget of the office to be withheld. The House eventually resolved not to withhold the funds, but instead to carry out an investigation.
This is all part of ongoing debate by the lawmakers on the 2021 budget.
“We agreed during the committee hearing that vote 11008, the office of the ombudsman should be withheld for various reasons for maladministration and the way they handle the financial year 2020,” he said.
But after some deliberations with both the leader of the main opposition, Chernor Maju Bah and the Speaker, Hon. Nyuma appealed that the budget be released.
“There was an argument that the substantive secretary, which is the vote controller that we know for the past years, was not given the authority to spend money on behalf of the commission. So because of that I want to move the motion that we release the budget and we instill further investigate the way the money was spent,” he said.
He went on: “I want to move that the finance committee and the transparency committee and, if necessary, with the audit committee, to further investigate in accordance with 93 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone Act Number 6, to bring out the report and findings and if necessary recommendations to this House, not just because we want to do things because we are members of parliament, but we want to do things with the right channel.”
Dr. Abass Bundu, Speaker of the House, came to the conclusion that the 2021 budget for the ombudsman will be released but that parliament would have to investigate the said institution after the leader of Government Business’s recommendation was supported by almost all the other law makers present.
However, the speaker noted that the Ombudsman had written him directly on the said issue after what transpired in the committee hearing. He said the Ombudsman did agree that the Executive Secretary will step into the shoe of the vote controller.
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