By Amara Thoronka
Selvin Bell, Deputy Auditor-General
Selvin Bell, the Deputy Auditor-General of Audit Service Sierra Leone, has said that one of the major challenges of the Audit Report still remains the implementation of the recommendations of the Auditor-General report, year in, year out. Mr. Bell was speaking to pressmen on Wednesday, 8th January, 2025, at the Freetown City Council building.
Providing background to the 2023 Auditor-General report, the Deputy Auditor-General said, in accordance with the Constitution of Sierra Leone, the report was concluded and sent to Parliament on 9th December 2024 and was tabled in Parliament on 17th December 2024.
“Great power comes with great responsibility. Audit Service Sierra Leone has been given great power and with that power comes great responsibility. Huge money and other resources are involved in the work we do, so if our recommendations are not implemented, it is waste of time and resources,” Mr. Bell noted, while recognizing compliance from some institutions.
He said the country’s audit agency is not witch-hunting anybody, saying those concerned are always informed before auditing is commenced.
“Before this report is written, we first engage all vote controllers. We send queries and allow vote controllers to respond. We give them the opportunity to provide evidence and clarify issues. Every issue in the audit report is supported by evidence in file. Our doors are open for evidence clarifications on everything contained in the report,” he maintained.
In his statement, Morie Lansana, Ag. Deputy Auditor General, noted that the 2023 Auditor-General was centered on the wage bill, covering several areas to report how state resources were expended in the 2023 financial year.
“The theme or focus of the 2023 Auditor General Report is on the payroll. The report is in accordance with Section 119(4) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone that requires the Auditor General to submit a report to parliament on the activities of government within the financial year. A lot of issues may have come to the attention of the Auditor General in the course of the audit exercise, but the focus is on those irregularities that are material and do affect the citizens of Sierra Leone. Those are the issues that are in the Auditor General annual report,” Mr. Lansana explained.
He further explained that the work of Audit Service Sierra Leone is based on activities that are carried out by government ministries, departments and agencies. “At the start of every year, ministries, departments and agencies submit budgets to parliament and those budgets are scrutinized and the appropriation bill passed; and the Ministry of Finance disburses money to those institutions to implement activities for and on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone. In some other instances government request donors to give support. All of these are support received for and on behalf the people of Sierra Leone. Ministries, departments and agencies are now charged with the responsibility to ensure resources are used for their intended purposes. Audit Service Sierra Leone exists to tell the people of Sierra Leone whether intended objectives for which resources are distributed are met,” he narrated.
The Acting Deputy Auditor-General said various types of audits are carried out to audit the activities of public institutions in a bid to promote transparency, accountability and value for money; citing financial audit, compliance audit, performance audit and other audits that the national audit agency or parliament would decide.
“For financial audit, the objective of the auditor general is to look at financial statements of entities and express a professional opinion as to whether the financial statements reflect laid down financial policies. In compliance audit, we measure benchmarks to know whether institutions are in compliance with procurement laws, financial management tools and regulations or internal policies. For performance audit, it goes beyond just looking at the figures in the financial statement or know whether institutions are in compliance as it looks at deliverables and impacts. Here, we look at the five Es – economy, efficiency, effectiveness, environmental impact and equitability. We have other specialized audits like audit on ICT, climate and environment, etc,” Mr. Lansana enlightened.
He explained how the audit exercise is usually carried out, noting that, before the year ends, they hold operational planning meeting and assign staff to manage different areas in the audit exercise, saying factors are considered in selecting the entities they audit based on the resources they have. “We consider the quantum of money allocated to the entity; the public interest; revenue generating institutions, and donors demand. This is how we prioritize entities we audit,” he clarified the concerns on why institutions are selected in the auditing process.
Mr Lansana emphasized that they communicate to institutions clearly to get themselves prepared before auditors go to them, adding that, in their communication, they spell out to institutions their responsibilities and responsibilities of the auditors and further highlight to them the documents institutions should maintain for auditing purpose.
He stated that revenue management, contract management, payment with supporting documentation, asset mot physically verified, and staff not available for physical verification as key highlight of the report.
“We have nothing personal against anybody,” he said while emphasizing that when resources are used for their intended purposes, service delivery would be realized and citizens would benefit as expected, but when resources are not used for the intended purposes, people suffer, citing health, energy, educational, food and other socioeconomic challenges.
Both speakers recognized that the role of the media in popularizing the findings and recommendations of the audit report and also to do follow-ups on issues raised in the report.
“We need the media to transmit what is in the audit report to the citizens. But we need an informed media to be able to do that. Everyone has a role to play that is why we involve the media and civil society in the various stages of the report. It will be a waste if what is in the report is not communicated to the public in the manner they would understand,” Deputy Auditor General Selvin Bell said.
