MoPED To Account For Over Le2.9 Billion Excess Payment As Salary

The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED) is to account for the sum of SLE2,974,736.27 which is equivalent to Le2,974,736,000.27 in Old Leones for excess salary payment without justification.
This was captured in the recent Audit Report, as salary increment in the Ministry’s payroll was done with no evidence in the form of promotion letters or approval from the relevant authority to justify the increment in staff salaries.
“We observed from our review that staff received the sum of SLE2,974,736.27 in excess of their basic salaries during the review period,” the report stated.
Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) requested that the Development Secretary and the Human Resources Management Office should ensure that the relevant justification in respect of the increment is made available to them.
Responding to the issue, the Ministry stated that the staff salary increments listed were part of the general salary harmonisation done by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) of which they (MoPED) was a beneficiary.
“There was no evidence submitted to suggest that MoPED benefited from a salary harmonisation done by the MoF which led to these increments; the issue remains unresolved,” ASSL stated.