Paramount Chief Edward Mbawa
Paramount Chiefdom Sahr Edward Mbawa of Gbani Kandor Chiefdom, Kono District Eastern Sierra Leone has called for the establishment of an Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) office in Kono District.
He made this statement during a stakeholders’ engagement in the east of Sierra Leone organized by Audit Service Sierra Leone with support from the World Bank.
This engagement is part of the plans for the 2023 local council audit to be undertaken by the ASSL.
To enhance inclusive participation, stakeholders were drawn from all sectors including Paramount Chiefs, Councilors, civil society organisations, media, youth, schools, women groups, market women, bike riders, representatives from Ataya Bases and persons with disability.
In the eastern, the ASSL engaged participants in the Kono and Kenema districts with plans to continue in the southern region of Sierra Leone.
According to Martin Sandy, the Senior Information, Education and Communication Officer for the ASSL, the engagement is part of the council audit planning which provides an opportunity for people in their localities to present issues of concern for audit and follow-up on previous engagements.
He said the ASSL had organised similar engagements in these regions with plans to widen the scope.
Jonathan Teckham, head of the Eastern Region Division of the ASSL noted that the Audit Service is an institution established by law with the mandate to audit all institutions including local councils that receive monies from government and donor partners on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone and report to Parliament. He said the ASSL is keen on service delivery, the reason they are engaging stakeholders who are knowledgeable about the issues that affect them.
Mr. Teckham and team explained the audit process from planning, execution and reporting, and highlighted audit issues in the 2022 Annual Auditor-General’s Report for both Kono and Kenema City and District Councils.
He informed participants that local council audit will soon commence, and urged them to serve as whistleblowers because the issues they would be looking at, impact their lives.
Paramount Chiefs in these regions appreciated the effort of the ASSL to involve the locals in meetings of such nature and lauded the reports produced over the years by the Auditor-General, to ensure accountability in governance.
The participants highlighted cross-cutting audit issues of concern for effective service delivery in local councils, ranging from health; the timely supply of essential drugs, effective ambulance services and general hospital management. In the area of Agriculture, they called for the timely supply of seedlings, fertilizers and the equal distribution of tractors to farmers. They also raised issues of timely allocation of school fees subsidies and pin codes for teachers and nurses.
Persons with disability expressed concern about support to the disabled through local councils, which they said celebrations were not forthcoming.
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Friday, April 29TH, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)