By Forum staff writer
The recently released 2025 Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) report has uncovered a series of serious financial and administrative irregularities at the Ministry of Lands Housing and Country Planning, raising concerns about public financial management and accountability within the government.
The audit findings reveal that the ministry failed to properly account for millions of Leones in revenue collected from land related transactions during 2024. According to the report, a total of NLe3,541,598 in revenue from land sales land surveys and land regularisation fees was collected but not deposited into the designated Transit Account at the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank as required by public financial management regulations. 
Further compounding the issue, an additional NLe496,035 was never transferred from the Transit Account to the Treasury Single Account at the Bank of Sierra Leone, a critical step that ensures all government revenue is consolidated and properly recorded. Auditors noted no evidence of reconciliation between the ministry and the National Revenue Authority (NRA) to resolve these discrepancies, and documentation to confirm that the monies were deposited or transferred has not been provided.
The audit also exposed significant gaps in lease account management and permit revenue tracking. The ministry reportedly issued lease agreements for state land to 108 individuals and organisations in 2024 with annual rents ranging between NLe2, 500 and NLe500, 000. However, there was no evidence that lease rents totalling NLe814, 000 were actually collected. Similarly, receipts amounting to NLe45, 075 for building permits could not be traced in the ministry’s revenue database submitted for verification by auditors, suggesting weak record keeping and potential loss of public funds.
The audit also raised troubling questions about payroll management at the ministry. Seventeen staff members listed on the payroll could not be physically verified, and salaries totalling NLe774,324.24 were paid to these individuals over the year. When auditors requested verification, ministry management claimed that only one of the seventeen was an actual employee, with the others classified variously as non‑staff transferred retired or deceased. Auditors found no supporting documentation to confirm any of these assertions or evidence of communication with the Human Resource Management Office to remove non‑staff from the payroll.
In its recommendations the Audit Service urged the ministry to work with the NRA to ensure all unremitted revenue is properly transferred into the Consolidated Fund to safeguard public resources. It also called on officials to reconcile payroll records and ensure only genuine staff are paid through official channels.
The findings highlight broader concerns about financial governance weaknesses within key government institutions that continue to struggle with transparency, accurate record keeping and adherence to public financial management rules. The ministry’s unresolved discrepancies have placed it under intense scrutiny and raised questions about the effectiveness of existing internal controls for safeguarding state revenue.
