By Lamina Kamara
Suspended Auditor General Lara Pearce
Heavy condemnations from various professional sectors continue to emerge against the statement of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone (ICASL) reportedly schemed to vindicate the suspended and indicted former auditor general Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce and deputy Mr. Tamba Momoh. This time the strong condemnation is coming from a good number of high-profile professional and reputable auditors at the Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) and top private auditing firms who are also members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone.
Speaking to this medium on the grounds of anonymity, the well-known professionals said they were puzzled and disappointed to see some people within the ICASL defending the former auditor general and deputy who were investigated and found guilty by a constitutionally established Tribunal with reputably longstanding legal experts.
A senior auditor at ASSL said: “I was expecting the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone to have engaged those of us who testified against Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Momoh. It is a shame to see people who should uphold integrity in our profession defending wrongdoings. What a shame!”
Another senior auditor who worked with Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Momoh described the defence of the ICASL as ‘laughable and an insult to integrity and professionalism”.
“Do these people really understand the gravity of what that woman did? Are they not aware that co-workers of Mrs. Taylor-Pearce testified on oath at the Tribunal that she blocked them from auditing certain politicians or public authorities. That was a blatant display of compromise in her work as auditor general,” the senior ASSL staff told this medium.
The source continued that the ICASL was so much in a haste to defend Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Momoh that they even presented a report that does not provide a single evidence that shows the innocence of Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Momoh.
“The ICASL review and subsequent press release did not highlight the specific issues mentioned in the Tribunal report and challenged the issues on the bases of law, ethics, best practice and evidence. The review was emotionally-driven. No substance. No merit,” he said.
Some staff of the Audit Service Sierra Leone even went to the extent of dismissing the ICASL statement as biased because they deliberately failed to contact most of their colleagues who testified against their former bosses for their views when reviewing the Tribunal report. “The ICASL Statement was therefore one-sided, reflecting only the views of the indicted former bosses of our institution, which raises a lot of questions about their level of fairness and sincerity”, one Audit Service Staff said on condition of anonymity.
In its press release dated 28th October 2024, the ICASL claimed to have set up a committee to ascertain whether there were any breaches of professional and ethical standards and whether the actions of Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Tamba Momoh were consistent with the ICASL Code of Ethics, International Standards on Auditing (ISA), International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI), the Constitution of Sierra Leone and the Audit Service Act 2014.
It added that, after what it called ‘extensive review of the Tribunal report’, it found out that former auditor general and her deputy acted in the best interest of the public, upheld professional standards and adhered to international auditing standards and guidelines, noting that there were no instances of professional misconduct or ethical breaches as outlined.
The recent move of the ICASL to defend Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Momoh has been described by many as not only weak but very unprofessional on the basis that the Tribunal was legally constituted following enshrined processes and procedures throughout the hearing. Also, Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Momoh together with their legal representatives were given adequate time and space to counter the allegations. Moreover, the report of the Tribunal was based on factual and circumstantial evidence tendered with testimonies of staff who were working with the two former bosses of the country’s auditing agency.
The ICASL is expected to have shown the methodology it used to arrive at such conclusion and the facts therein and not just reduce the whole thing to empty emotional empathy for two of their colleague chartered accountants who acted unprofessionally by preventing auditors from investigating certain people in governance, among other things. Does ICASL really care about professionalism and integrity?
The dismissal of the Auditor General is to be finalized by Parliament and the process in ongoing as it is now left with the legislature to decide.
It could be recalled that, following widespread reports of unprofessional conduct by Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Tamba Momoh about two years ago, a constitutionally constituted tribunal was set up by the President Julius Maada Bio government to investigate reported misconducts. After months of investigations and fair hearings, the Tribunal, constituted by high-profile and reputable legal experts, found the two guilty as accused and recommended for their dismissal from Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL).