By Sulaima Jalloh

Deputy Speaker of Parliament who doubles as the Chairman of the Public Account Committee (PAC), Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh has recently, whilst probing into Audit queries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) at the Parliament Building on Tower Hill in Freetown, summoned the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Health, Mr. Prince Cole, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr. Alhassan Conteh, and Mr. Septimous Johnson now retired to answer to Audit queries.

The Deputy Speaker noted that the appearance of the aforementioned names in Parliament will aid the work of the Public Account Committee. According to the Chairman, only those who have died will be exempted to appear before the PAC to answer to Audit queries.

The Committee also ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) to write to various heads of chanceries to face Parliament to answer to some of the queries raised by Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL). It was established that various chanceries collected monies without providing remittances including the Sierra Leone High Commission in United Kingdom who held in procession 791pounds without remitting it. “Whatever you collect should be remitted,” Hon. Tawa Conteh told the Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

A Member of PAC, the Deputy Leader 2 of the opposition, All Peoples Congress (APC) in Parliament, Hon. Aaron Aruna Koroma, said the ministry has no right to spend revenue generated without the approval of Parliament. “You don’t have the power to spend revenue collected without passing it to the consolidated funds,” he asserted. He furthered that there were donations and grants given to the ministry, but they were not taken to Parliament, something, he said, is against the Law.

Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr. Victoria Suleiman confirmed that there were nine vehicles donated to the ministry by the Chinese Government, saying some vehicles are at the ministry whilst one is at the airport but could not account for four of them.

According to ASSL, at the time of Audit, the Foreign Affairs Ministry could not provide supporting documents for the gifted vehicle including distribution list, something Hon. Aaron said, was not tabled before Parliament and that it is also a violation of the law. Audit Service also disclosed that at the time of Audit those vehicles were not registered.

According to the Director General, Dr. Victoria Suleiman, the resources her ministry is getting are inadequate and that poses serious challenges for the ministry. She therefore called on the Members of Parliament to advocate on behalf of her ministry for more budget allocations. “Please add your voice to our voices for us to be self-accounting,” the DG pleaded. The Public Account Committee declined of the plea and suggested that the Foreign Affairs Ministry endeavour to engage the Ministry of Finance on the Finance Act before it is tabled before Parliament.

The Deputy Speaker further stated that MFAIC is the face of the country and that if it fails to properly represent the country, then that is a serious problem, adding that even if there is a mistake but let there be supporting documents.

The PAC resolved at inviting all heads that were working at MFAIC at the time of the Audit including those who are retired to answer to Audit queries.

Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Friday, July 12th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)