AYV News, October 31, 2024
The Leadership of the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) Party in Parliament has called on President Dr. Julius Maada Bio to reconsider the recommendations in the Tribunal Report relating to the removal of the Auditor General and her deputy.
Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Honorable Abdul Kargbo said: “Owing to the composition of this 6th Parliament, it is evident that two-thirds majority of all members of parliament that is needed to vote in favour of the removal of the Auditor General as provided for in section 137 (7) (b), of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, cannot be achieved without the support of the opposition”.
The APC said it is hoped that President Bio will heed their advice in the interest of strengthening the tenets of transparency and accountability in our country.
The Party said having done much deliberations on same, coupled with wider consultations with both local and international stakeholders, its membership wish to state the follows:
- That the Auditor General and her deputy were strictly guided by the International Standards on Auditing [ISA] 240 or its public sector equivalent, the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions
(ISSAI) 2240, which states that an auditor is usually not trained or expected to be an expert in the authentication of documents, however, when an auditor identifies conditions that cause the auditor to believe that a document may not be authentic or that terms in a document have been modified but not disclosed to the auditor, possible procedures to investigate further includes confirming directly with the third party. This is obviously so, because requesting for authorization before third party inquiry may lead to the destruction of the evidence in the first place. The allegation for which the Auditor General was investigated relates to third party confirmation of the authenticity of documents, which is clearly separate and distinct from third party confirmation of account balances such as bank, creditor, debtors account balances.
Furthermore, the intent and purpose of this provision is to detect fraud and/or dishonesty. Requiring consent therefore as a requirement for such confirmation, no doubt defeats the very intent for which it was created.
- That in paragraph 212 of the tribunal report, the Director General at the INTOSAI Development Initiative [IDI], made it abundantly clear that, he has never come across a requirement that an auditor should seek the consent of an auditee before confirmation can be made from a third party to authentic a document submitted as audit evidence, and that there are no standards for an auditor to get consent for third party confirmation.
However, contrary to such instructive and expert opinion from highly reputable auditing institution which sets standards for global auditing as provided for in section 11 [2] [a] of the Audit Service Act 2014 as amended, the tribunal in paragraph 229 of its report chose to base its conclusion primarily on testimonies of non-expert witnesses and totally discarded the testimonies of the expert witness based on international best practice. We view this not only as bias, but a mockery of the principle of fairness and justice.
- That as an opposition, we believe that if this unprecedented removal of the Auditor General attracts the two-thirds majority in Parliament, it will significantly affect the conduct of credible and independent audit and other accountability processes in Sierra Leone. Owing to the fact that the Audit Service Sierra Leone is perceived by a substantial number of citizens as the only remaining independent accountability agency that has stood the test of time for successive governments, an attempt by government to remove the Auditor General will, without a doubt, serve as a barrier for other auditors or other oversight institutions to conduct their work objectively and independently for fear of being subjected to what is perceived as a politically centered attempt to limit the scope for transparency in future.
- That on the alleged failure of the Audit Service to audit the Freetown City Council (FCC) referenced in paragraphs 248-257 of the Tribunal report, we are shocked that the Tribunal could make conclusion that the Auditor General and her Deputy failed to conduct proper audit exercise on the FCC for the Financial year 2020, even when successive Financial Statements of the FCC and that of the year in question, were audited and expressed an impressive “UNQUALIFIED OPINION” in full compliance with section 11(1) of the Audit Service Act 2014 [see table 4.3 – Councils Opinion 2020 on page 485 and 493 of the Auditor Generals Annual Report 2020]. It is worthy of note that all audits conducted by the Audit Service are scopebased and are limited to the Public Accounts of Sierra Leone and all Public offices, other bodies and organizations established by an Act of parliament or Statutory instrument and that audits of Non-Governmental Organizations do not fall under the functions of the ASSL either under any other legal mandate.
- That allowing the removal of the Auditor General on this particular issue will certainly defeat the intent and purpose for which His Excellency Julius Maada Bio rejected the 2020 Finance Bill under section 106 [1] of the Constitution of Sierra Leone [Act No. 6 of 1991]. This bill provided for unaccountable imprest for President, Vice President and Speaker of Parliament for all overseas travels. The said bill after perusal by State House and in a memorandum addressed to the Clerk of Parliament, the Secretary to the President had this to say “His Excellency the President has perused the document and has expressed grave concern over the open endedness of the non – accountable imprest as provided for in the said act.
He is of the view that, this is prone to improper use of public funds” We, therefore, strongly believe that we the opposition in parliament will not be a party to any attempt made by whosoever to erode such level of Transparency and Accountability.
- Yesterday Tuesday 29th October 2024, the Institution of Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone (ICASL), establish by the Institution of
Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone Act of 12th May 1988, to regulate accountancy and professional accountants in Sierra Leone, which both the Auditor General and her deputy are members off, issued a press statement to its members confirming that it has conducted its own investigation into this matter, and that there was no evidence of professional miscount. Instead, it confirmed that the auditors acted in the best interest of the public, upheld professional standards and adherence to international auditing standards and guidelines.
- In the same vain as ICASL, but on an international scale, on the 23rd July 2024, the global umbrella body for all Auditors General in the world, the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) who are responsible for regulating their members, and developing the ISSAIs, confirmed that the Auditor General indeed complied with their standard in a press statement titled: INTOSAI General Secretariat and INTOSAI Development Initiative Joint Position on the Removal Process of the Auditor General of Sierra Leone.
