By Alusine Fullah

The Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) is the supreme audit institution of Sierra Leone, mandated by law to ensure that public funds are used efficiently and effectively. By law, it should be committed to promoting accountability and transparency in the public sector by conducting independent audits of government ministries, departments, and agencies.

Meanwhile, as the Supreme Audit Institution of Sierra Leone, the mandate of the ASSL covers the entire public sector, with the responsibility to audit the central and local government, public enterprises, the central bank, state-owned commercial banks, and other state-owned financial corporations. Section 119 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone and the Audit Service Act are the legal instruments through which this mandate was given.

In line with the foregoing, the 2022 Audit Report has clearly stated that SIERRA LEONE AIRPORTS AUTHORITY made payment of SLE 668,825 without adequate supporting documents. The Audit Report exposes:

Payments without Adequate Supporting Documents Payments which amounted to SLE668,825 were made without adequate supporting documents such as receipts, invoices, delivery notes, beneficiaries list, air tickets, service level agreements and reports. We recommended that the head of finance provide the missing supporting documents to account for the expenditures recorded in the cashbook for the financial year; otherwise, they should refund the full amount to the Authority’s bank account, and evidence of refund submitted to the ASSL.

However, responding to the statement of Audit Report, SIERRA LEONE AIRPORTS AUTHORITY made an Official Response that adequate supporting documents have been attached to the various payment vouchers, and they are available for verification.

In line with that official response from SIERRA LEONE AIRPORTS AUTHORITY, commented that from a total of SLE668, 825, supporting documents were submitted for payments totalling SLE643, 825 representing 96% of the queried amount, leaving a difference of SLE25, 000. The issue is substantially resolved.

The Audit Report goes further to expose that The Authority did not provide an approved standard receivable policy, which would serve as a Standard Operating Procedure for the recognition, measurement and disclosure of receivables. This means that authority lacks SOP. And, as a result it has led to poor management of receivables, resulting from inefficient debt collection, inadequate customer database and inconsistency in the management of receivables. Also, this has led to material misstatement in the Financial Statements.

The auditors recommended that the head of finance should ensure that a policy for the effective management of receivables is developed and submitted to the Board of Directors for approval. Evidence of actions taken should be submitted to the ASSL.

The management of Airports Authority responded that: “Efforts are been made to develop a holistic accounting manual which will incorporate all SOPs for proper reporting. The process is ongoing and there is documentary evidence for your verification.”

In nexus to that response, the auditors commented that: “Evidence to support Management’s action in its strive to develop an approved receivables policy was not submitted and verified. Our recommendations were not implemented. The issue is unresolved.”