By: Hassan Osman Kargbo

The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) according to their mandate is to be a dynamic efficient and effective coordinating and regulatory body, and it objective for which the Commission was established was to advise Government on tertiary education and to provide an institutional liaison with Government and other stakeholder organizations offering assistance in the tertiary education sector in the country. However, the 2022 Audit Service Sierra Leone report showed how the commission had been working in contrary to their mandate.

According to the report, the TEC Payments totalling SLE192,827 and SLE66,357 were made in respect of rent for the Commission’s Secretariat and brake boosters respectively. However, the report noted that supporting documents such as receipts and service agreement forms were not provided for audit inspection.

The report recommended that all payments made should be supported with relevant documentary evidence to substantiate the payments.

As a result of the aforementioned, the commission official response was that:

(i) Payment of Annual Rent for the Commission Secretariat: There is an Operating Lease Agreement between the Commission and the landlord for payment of annual rent. Payment of annual rent is normally made by bank transfer from the Commission’s account to the landlord’s account. The debit in the Commission’s account indicates payment to the landlord.

Management notes your comments and will take necessary action for receipts to be provided after payment. (ii) Payment for Brake Booster: Based on the internal controls of the Commission, before payments are made, the officer-in-charge must first initiate a request and forward same to the Administrative Manager for discussion. The Administrative Manager will forward the request to the Executive Secretary for authorisation. After that, the Executive

Secretary will submit the same request to the Chairman for discussion and approval. It is after compliance with all these controls that payment is made.

Management notes your comments on the issue of Service Agreement Form not found in the file for this single transaction and will take necessary action to correct the situation.​

And from the response of the commission, the Auditor’s Comment was that: No receipt was submitted to the ASSL showing evidence of rent paid to the landlord by the Commission, and as a result the issue is therefore unresolved. On the issue of payment for brake booster, the Service Agreement Form was not submitted for inspection. The issues remain unresolved.