AYV News, November 11, 2025
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Sierra Leone’s Parliament has concluded its regional oversight hearings with seven local councils in the North-Eastern Regions, based on findings in the 2023 Auditor General’s Report.
The public hearings were held at the Makeni City Council Hall in Bombali district, which brought together officials from the said regions.
During the hearings, the PAC reviewed key audit queries and provided recommendations aimed at improving financial management and accountability at the local level.
In Makeni City Council, discussions were centered around the late disbursement of budgetary allocations and rollovers. The Chief Administrator (CA) said that rollover funds were part of the annual budgetary process.
The Committee, however, instructed auditors to ensure that starting in 2025, grants and other council revenues were clearly differentiated in a tabular format to track budgetary allocation, disbursement and performance.
On own-source revenue, the CA cited the 2023 election period as challenging for revenue generation. The PAC maintained that elections should not impede revenue collections and advised the council to adopt more innovative revenue strategies in order to meet or surpass their revenue targets.
For Falaba District Council, officials highlighted poor road networks and widespread poverty as barriers to tax collection.
The PAC advised the council to base its future revenue projections on realistic milestones for purposes of generating more own-source revenue to enhance development in their locality.
The Bombali District Council faced queries regarding the unavailability of assets for audit inspection. The CA confirmed that the assets were now available for inspection, and the Committee urged the council to ensure full cooperation with auditors during the course of executing their duties.
The Tonkolili District Council was stood down for under-representation and were summoned to appear before the Committee at a later date, failing which a stronger line of action will be taken.
In conclusion, the PAC commended councils for showing improvement in audit compliance and administrative management, but emphasized the need for greater accountability. The Committee further cautioned that, starting next year, government’s allocations will be tied to each council’s performance in the generation of their own-source revenue.
