By Amara Thoronka
President Maada Bio Mrs. Taylor-Pearce
President Julius Maada Bio has accepted the removal from office of the longtime suspended Auditor-General of Audit Service Sierra Leone, Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce. This is according to a public notice from the Office of the Press Secretary at State House, on Tuesday, 9th July, 2024, with the caption “Update on the Tribunal Report on the Suspended Auditor-General and Deputy Auditor-General, Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Tamba Momoh Respectively”.
“On Wednesday 12 June 2024, His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio received the Report from the Chairperson of the Tribunal that was set up to investigate the suspended Auditor-General and Deputy Auditor-General, Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Tamba Momoh respectively,” the statement from State House explained
State House confirmed that President Bio has accepted all the recommendations of the Tribunal, including the removal from office of the suspended Auditor-General and Deputy Auditor-General.
“Accordingly, having satisfied section 137(7)(a) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone 1991, the President has directed the following: That the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice initiates the necessary procedure for the removal of the suspended Auditor-General, Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce, pursuant to section 137(7)(b) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone 1991; [and] that the Audit Service Board pursues action for the removal of the suspended Deputy Auditor-General, Mr. Tamba Momoh,” President Bio directed.
It is worth noting that, though the President has accepted removal of both suspended Auditor-General and Deputy, Parliament is to decide on Mrs. Taylor-Peace while the Audit Service Board is to decide on Mr. Momoh.
It could be recalled that in November 2021, President Bio suspended Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and her deputy Mr. Momoh on allegations of misconducts. A tribunal was then established to investigate the said allegations. Upon completing its work, the Tribunal recently presented to President Bio its report said to contain its findings and recommendations.
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on wednesday, July 10th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
