By Foday Moriba Conteh
A consortium of Civil Society Organizations comprising Budget Advocacy Network (BAN), Center for Accountability and the Rule of Law (CARL), 50/50 Group-Sierra Leone and the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR) has urged Parliament of Sierra Leone to act decisively on the 2019 Audit Report. They made this position known in a Press Release dated 15th January 2021.
The CSOs maintained that they have been carefully monitoring events following the release in December last year of the Auditor-General’s Reports on the annual financial statement of 2019 and the COVID-19 Response Funds. They added that like successive audit reports, the financial scandals revealed in the 2019 Audit across Government agencies has once again exposed the underlying weaknesses in GoSL’s regulatory systems which continue to pose challenges to effective delivery of public services.
They said they have noted the expressed concerns from sections of the public about the Office of the Auditor General, hoping that the Parliamentary scrutiny of the 2019 reports would help resolve those concerns in ways that do not undermine or compromise the coveted independence of Audit Service-Sierra Leone.
The consortium said it is pleased to note that Sierra Leone’s Audit Service has been lauded by both local and international Public Financial Management (PFM) evaluations as one of the most impressive contributors to strengthening financial management in the country. It said for example in the 2020 Open Budget Survey, Audit Service Sierra Leone recorded a 72% score, which ranked as one of the most effective audit institutions in Africa of which they called on Government to sustain that achievement.
Members pointed out that they also observe that while the 2019 Audit did not reveal new forms or patterns of financial mismanagement or fraud, public interest in the findings has been overwhelming and the growing interest among the public is in line with the recent 2020 Afro barometer findings, which states that 70.9% of the public believe that it is more important for citizens to hold Government accountable, even if it means taking decisions more slowly.
The consortium said it is pleased that there have been positive steps by Government in accordance with those expressed wishes of the public. For instance, in a directive from the Ministry of Finance (MOF), published on 15th January, 2020, of which the Financial Secretary has given a three-week ultimatum to all Vote Controllers to respond to the audit report or risk suspension.
Members furthered that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has also taken prompt action in recovering some of the lost monies and assets mentioned in the audit.
“While we closely monitor adherence to the directives of MOF to Vote Controllers we urge the ACC to sustain its engagement with both Audit reports with the objective of not only recovering unaccounted public funds or assets, but also of bringing perpetrators to justice,” the Release stated adding that as organizations they are worried that successive Parliaments have rarely given audit reports the attention they deserve because they failed to demand improved standards from MDAs or bring defaulters to book.
“We are, however, encouraged by the recent announcement by the leadership of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that it is shortly commencing enquiries into both reports. Accordingly, we strongly encourage the PAC to use the regulatory weaknesses identified in the audit to effectively scrutinise all relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government,” they highlighted.
The consortium maintains that the history of institutional reforms is replete of examples of how effective Parliamentary Oversight of Government MDAs can help countries recover lost public confidence and trust in public financial management institutions and that corruption has persisted in Sierra Leone not because of poor quality audits, but rather the historic unwillingness to implement or address audit recommendations.
In light of that experience, they said they are encouraged by the recent efforts by the ACC to investigate findings and take action on the audit reports but they believe that there is a lot more that Parliament can do.
“Failure to take drastic action on the 2019 findings may send the wrong signals about our country’s commitment to effective PFM especially in the light of our impressive record in controlling corruption over the last four years,” they stated concluding by saying that they stand ready to support Parliament and indeed the country in their collective endeavour to address continued PFM weaknesses.
