Therefore government must create the level playing field for proper audits into the uses of public funds as it has always been in previous administrations.
The culture of accountability on the parts of MDAs has always been serious concerns, as civil and public servants hardly comply with laid down rules and regulations governing the managements of public funds.
These have been recently exposed in a document published few weeks ago, by the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA). The NPPA Second Quarter 2020, Public Procurement Bulletin exposed so many irregularities in procurement processes at MDAs.
MDAs’ procurement plans according to the periodical were not submitted to the NPPA for proper screenings to ensure that logistics proposed to be procured by agencies, worth the actual values of tax payers’ moneys. Hence the need for the inculcation of the representative culture of transparency and accountability by public and civil servants across governance systems, to restore the past glories of the public sector.
This aspect of governance responsibility is not new, and was reintroduced barely twenty years ago as international best practices, purely to encourage public servants and institutions to transparently give quarterly or annual accounts of their various stewardships in MDAs among other public offices they serve.
It has been in practice in the last two decades, spanning back from the eras of late President Alhaji Dr Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, onto to former presidents-Dr Ernest Bai Koroma. They made sure that there were always transparency and accountability in public sector administration throughout their terms, especially those that have to do with expenditures.
The more reason democratic transparency and accountability institutions were established by late president Kabbah, which his successor, former president Koroma continued with for the sustenance and firm consolidation of Sierra Leone’s growing democracy.
Institutions such as ASSL then joined the House of Parliament, who are now collectively charged with the mandates of audits and oversights functions of monitoring public expenditures being undertaken by MDAs. And these institutions have been effectively performing their responsibilities.
For instance, ASSL audits of the 2014 to 2015 Ebola eradication funds management uncovered so many irregularities, named and shamed defaulters to the extent that the House of Parliament took firm actions against most of those who were found wanting by the House for gross violations of procurements laws, in the purchases of ambulances and other logistical needs. The outcomes of that investigation by ASSL also midwifed the parliamentary ban on certain people from holding public offices, even though most of them are now seen in different higher capacities in the country’s public sector.
Nevertheless that was a work the Auditor General, Madam Lara Taylor Pearce who remains highly respected for across the global for her uncompromising stance of audits into the managements of public finances. The facts remain she is on record for uncovering those gross violations of procedures and mismanagement of procurement resources, meant for the purchase of ambulances for the eradication of the deadly Ebola virus disease in 2014 and in 2015. And defaulters were named and shamed in that very audit scams. Yet the government continues to have them right up there as if there is a drought of professional resource persons to occupy such positions. Then how serious are we in fighting corruption? Anyway Madam Auditor General such standards in ensuring international best practices must be maintained by the service moving forward.
Therefore, in your continuing checks and balances duties as transparency and accountability, watchdogs-ASSL, you should ensure that public institutions judiciously utilize public funds for the intended purposes procedurally as expected to be done in the expenditures of World Bank’s donor funds to the tune of $ 7.5m and other development partners doled to the Government of Sierra Leone in April 2020, for the fight against Covid-19. Procurement processes were undertaken for the purchases of vehicles and other meditational equipment for the eradication of the pandemic from the country.
According to the Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law, Le 60, 720, 494,532,000 which is equivalent to $60,260,000 have so far been spent on the national efforts, which need to be properly audited by ASSL as it were well done in the case of EVD funds basket management.
It is based on such procedures that parliament most times call heads of MDAs to give accounts of their various stewardships in the well of parliament, as key component of the oversights roles much as democratic accountability and transparency are required.
As ASSL has in the past been held to a very high esteemed, for professionally conducting objective, impartial and independent financial audits into the managements of public funds being administered by MDAs, this medium hope that nothing will stop the service from auditing Covid-19 funds management.
Besides, there is something to think about now, which is the most topical issue occupying public debates in mainstream and on the new media, which is the pending release of the 2019 ASSL Report and audit into the uses of Covid-19 funds by ASSL. Until that is done and then the report is out, and be tabled before parliament then speculations will be a thing of the past.
So Madam Auditor General do your best now and make the much awaited document available to the public to save your reputation and ASSL.
Delays in releasing a document that entails detail audits into public expenditures including the Covid-19 fund basket management, has ignited and raised series of suspicions, that something went wrong especially with Covid-19 funds. And the slow pace is precipitating more doubts, lack of trust and public confidence in the entire processes of audits into allocations being made to MDAs and even to handlers of the Covid-19 pandemic.
So ASSL please release the 2019 ASSL Report Madam Auditor General and let the devil be ashamed as a strong factor part of the democratic culture of transparency and accountability.
ASSL and Madam Pearce have set the bar very high up there, and Forum Newspaper knows very well that neither the institution, nor the Audit General herself would want to gamble their hard earned credibility on the face of the earth, amid suspicions of misappropriations of Covid-19 funds and missing timber revenue.
It is no longer a secret that the 2019 ASSL Report has already uncovered and has exposed so many financial misappropriations in the continuing President Julius Maada Bio administration.
Right from the Office of the President in what has to do with tax evasions from overseas travelling expenditures that were supposed to be paid to the National Revenue Authority, by the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation are said to have dashed into a thin air, the Le. 2.1 Billion Leones missing timber revenue amongst several other financial mismanagements that were captured in the much awaited document, yet to be made public by ASSL.
However, why the tradition of democratic accountability and transparency processes must not be swept under the carpet, is that tax payers’ moneys have to be spent sensibly by MDAs for their intended purposes for them accurately make ensure that value for money is maintained at all times and sustain transparency and accountability instead of always stifling the good values of democracy.
Therefore government must create the level playing field for proper audits into the uses of public funds as it has always been in previous administrations.
The culture of accountability on the parts of MDAs has always been serious concerns, as civil and public servants hardly comply with laid down rules and regulations governing the managements of public funds.
These have been recently exposed in a document published few weeks ago, by the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA). The NPPA Second Quarter 2020, Public Procurement Bulletin exposed so many irregularities in procurement processes at MDAs.
MDAs’ procurement plans according to the periodical were not submitted to the NPPA for proper screenings to ensure that logistics proposed to be procured by agencies, worth the actual values of tax payers’ moneys. Hence the need for the inculcation of the representative culture of transparency and accountability by public and civil servants across governance systems, to restore the past glories of the public sector.
This aspect of governance responsibility is not new, and was reintroduced barely twenty years ago as international best practices, purely to encourage public servants and institutions to transparently give quarterly or annual accounts of their various stewardships in MDAs among other public offices they serve.
It has been in practice in the last two decades, spanning back from the eras of late President Alhaji Dr Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, onto to former presidents-Dr Ernest Bai Koroma. They made sure that there were always transparency and accountability in public sector administration throughout their terms, especially those that have to do with expenditures.
The more reason democratic transparency and accountability institutions were established by late president Kabbah, which his successor, former president Koroma continued with for the sustenance and firm consolidation of Sierra Leone’s growing democracy.
Institutions such as ASSL then joined the House of Parliament, who are now collectively charged with the mandates of audits and oversights functions of monitoring public expenditures being undertaken by MDAs. And these institutions have been effectively performing their responsibilities.
For instance, ASSL audits of the 2014 to 2015 Ebola eradication funds management uncovered so many irregularities, named and shamed defaulters to the extent that the House of Parliament took firm actions against most of those who were found wanting by the House for gross violations of procurements laws, in the purchases of ambulances and other logistical needs. The outcomes of that investigation by ASSL also midwifed the parliamentary ban on certain people from holding public offices, even though most of them are now seen in different higher capacities in the country’s public sector.
Nevertheless that was a work the Auditor General, Madam Lara Taylor Pearce who remains highly respected for across the global for her uncompromising stance of audits into the managements of public finances. The facts remain she is on record for uncovering those gross violations of procedures and mismanagement of procurement resources, meant for the purchase of ambulances for the eradication of the deadly Ebola virus disease in 2014 and in 2015. And defaulters were named and shamed in that very audit scams. Yet the government continues to have them right up there as if there is a drought of professional resource persons to occupy such positions. Then how serious are we in fighting corruption? Anyway Madam Auditor General such standards in ensuring international best practices must be maintained by the service moving forward.
Therefore, in your continuing checks and balances duties as transparency and accountability, watchdogs-ASSL, you should ensure that public institutions judiciously utilize public funds for the intended purposes procedurally as expected to be done in the expenditures of World Bank’s donor funds to the tune of $ 7.5m and other development partners doled to the Government of Sierra Leone in April 2020, for the fight against Covid-19. Procurement processes were undertaken for the purchases of vehicles and other meditational equipment for the eradication of the pandemic from the country.
According to the Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law, Le 60, 720, 494,532,000 which is equivalent to $60,260,000 have so far been spent on the national efforts, which need to be properly audited by ASSL as it were well done in the case of EVD funds basket management.
It is based on such procedures that parliament most times call heads of MDAs to give accounts of their various stewardships in the well of parliament, as key component of the oversights roles much as democratic accountability and transparency are required.
As ASSL has in the past been held to a very high esteemed, for professionally conducting objective, impartial and independent financial audits into the managements of public funds being administered by MDAs, this medium hope that nothing will stop the service from auditing Covid-19 funds management.
Besides, there is something to think about now, which is the most topical issue occupying public debates in mainstream and on the new media, which is the pending release of the 2019 ASSL Report and audit into the uses of Covid-19 funds by ASSL. Until that is done and then the report is out, and be tabled before parliament then speculations will be a thing of the past.
So Madam Auditor General do your best now and make the much awaited document available to the public to save your reputation and ASSL.
Delays in releasing a document that entails detail audits into public expenditures including the Covid-19 fund basket management, has ignited and raised series of suspicions, that something went wrong especially with Covid-19 funds. And the slow pace is precipitating more doubts, lack of trust and public confidence in the entire processes of audits into allocations being made to MDAs and even to handlers of the Covid-19 pandemic.
So ASSL please release the 2019 ASSL Report Madam Auditor General and let the devil be ashamed as a strong factor part of the democratic culture of transparency and accountability.
ASSL and Madam Pearce have set the bar very high up there, and Forum Newspaper knows very well that neither the institution, nor the Audit General herself would want to gamble their hard earned credibility on the face of the earth, amid suspicions of misappropriations of Covid-19 funds and missing timber revenue.
It is no longer a secret that the 2019 ASSL Report has already uncovered and has exposed so many financial misappropriations in the continuing President Julius Maada Bio administration.
Right from the Office of the President in what has to do with tax evasions from overseas travelling expenditures that were supposed to be paid to the National Revenue Authority, by the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation are said to have dashed into a thin air, the Le. 2.1 Billion Leones missing timber revenue amongst several other financial mismanagements that were captured in the much awaited document, yet to be made public by ASSL.
However, why the tradition of democratic accountability and transparency processes must not be swept under the carpet, is that tax payers’ moneys have to be spent sensibly by MDAs for their intended purposes for them accurately make ensure that value for money is maintained at all times and sustain transparency and accountability instead of always stifling the good values of democracy.
