By Amin Kef Sesay
The 2019 Audit Report uncovers egregious flaws in the handling of Constituency Development Funds (CDF) by MPs, amounting to 22 billion Leones.
Schedules to the financial statements for Constituency Development Funds examined by the auditors revealed that Le10.1 billion and Le12.2 billion were paid to Members of Parliament including Paramount Chief Members of Parliament (PCMPs) for 2018 and 2019 respectively, but same could not be properly accounted for.
According to the auditors, the Le10.1 billion paid to MPs in 2018 was meant for the construction or renting of a Constituency Office in all the 132 constituencies, but these monies could not be accounted for during the audit verification exercise.
The auditors discovered that, during the period under review, Paramount Chief Members of Parliament, who are without constituencies received nearly 1 billion Leones from the CDF portfolio, but same could not be accounted for.
The official response by the Clerk of Parliament of Sierra Leone indicates that the CDF is disbursed to the accounts of sitting MPs, “whether or not they have a constituency”. The Clerk also says that there is no “clear definition” of who is qualified to benefit from the CDF.
The Auditor General concludes that since the CDF could not be properly accounted for, the issue remains “unresolved”. Read the excerpt below.
“Our examination of the schedules to the financial statements for Constituency Development Funds (CDF) revealed that a total of Le10,100,000,000 and Le12,220,672,500 were paid to 146 Members of Parliament (MPs) for 2018 and 2019 respectively; but were not retired.
“The payments made during 2018 were expected to be used for either the construction or renting of a constituency office in all the 132 constituencies nationwide.
“These payments include Le968,493,150 made to 14 paramount chiefs without constituencies in 2018 and the same in 2019.”
Official’s Response
The Clerk of Parliament said “the issue of Constituency Development Funds (CDF) is limited to the Finance Department of Parliament, disbursing same to the respective accounts of beneficiaries (in this case sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), whether or not they have a constituency); hence, the reason for the inclusion of Paramount Chief MPs in the schedule of payments. Please be informed also that, in every year’s budget process, funds provided for this activity are meant for sitting MPs, without clear definition of who is qualified for same.”
Sierra Leone Parliament to account for Twenty-Two Billion Leones
