By Sahid Bangura

As part of the efforts of the Audit Service General and Team in unearthing farfetched activities that are enshrined within the public service sector, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, after a thorough inspection, has been incriminated of wrecking billions of Leones and 285 vehicles.

Following the Audit Service observation, it was recorded that “A total of 285 vehicles in the Western Area were not made available for physical verification.” Also continued that “Five vehicles donated to the Ministry, with a total value of US$154,837.13 were not included in the asset register, and these vehicles were also not made available for physical verification.”

Following the Audit Service observation missing fixed assets, it was recorded that “A total of 285 vehicles in the Western Area were not made available for physical verification.” Also continued that “Five vehicles donated to the Ministry, with a total value of US$154,837.13 were not included in the asset register, and these vehicles were also not made available for physical verification.”

The report continued that after a repeated request for the provision of missing assets for verification, the Ministry failed to make the assets available. The recorded missing assets were “14 Hewlett Packard (HP) Pavilion (Intel Core i5) laptop computers, 12 (120 4G LTE), Africell modems, one HP laptop and an adaptor, and one Canon camera (ESO 4000D). However, according to the report, an investigation put forward that the missing assets were report stolen from the Directorate of Policy, Planning and Information in September 2021.

In response to the stolen assets, the Management of the Ministry noted that the matter was reported to the police at Youyi Building; the CID was invited and initiated investigations, but the Ministry, after several efforts, did not receive a report from the police. The Ministry also responded that on the 28th April 2022, their Permanent Secretary sent a request on the burglary incident to the head of the CID, and a fee was also paid to the CID yet, they did not receive a report from the police.

According to the Auditor’s comment on the official response of the Ministry, although a letter of request to the police in regards with the theft incident was provided, but the police report was not made available during the audit verification, which left the issue unresolved. In nexus to the missing vehicles, according to the audit report, “There was no official response for the missing vehicles and no evidence that the recommendations were implemented. The issue remains unresolved.”

As fast-forward to the bank statements in respect of 91 bank accounts of the Ministry, the report recorded that, after an initial request and follow-ups made for the documents that were attached to the engagement letter that was sent to the Ministry, bank statements of 60 accounts were submitted for verification, leaving balance of 31 bank accounts. However, after a review of the 60 bank statements that were submitted, the Audit Service noted that withdrawals totalling SLE3,978,934.66 and US$198,228.44 were made, but payment vouchers and supporting documents were not submitted for the amount withdrawn, which left the issue unresolved.

In regards with the bank statements saga, the management responded that they tried to reach 31 account holders, and they received response from five offices, and that they also reached out to the Accountant General to provide bank statements for the quarried account for which they were still waiting responses.

The audit report also revealed that, in 2022, the Ministry dished out a sum of SLE3,880,592 on overseas training for medical personnel, but the expenditure was without adequate supporting documents such as request and approval of sponsorships, invoices and receipts for fees paid whilst on overseas training, and noted that “the Ministry continue to pay for overseas training without receiving expenditure returns to support the payments.

The Management of the Ministry responded that, “Request and approval for sponsorship were effectively attached to payment vouchers in the free Balance system. However, these documents are available for audit verification.” The management continued that they had received receipts for fees and air tickets from four doctors and that they were available for verification, while the remaining doctors had been contacted for the same.

According to the Auditor’s comment, “of the total overseas training expenditure of SLE3,880,592, supporting documents amounting to SLE1,076,719 representing 28% of the queried amount were provided and verified. Leaving a balance of SLE2,803,873. The issue remains unresolved.”