As Corruption Takes Center Stage… Sierra Leone Maritime To Account For Le9.8 B

What has come out clear in the recently published Audit Report which looks into the Sierra Leone public purse is that Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA) is to account for millions of Leones due to irregularities.

According to Audit Service Sierra Leone, the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration failed to adequately account for monies spent by the institution during the Financial Year of 2022.

The report stated that bank withdrawals totaling SLE5,584,602.15 were without payment vouchers and the related supporting documents such as requests, invoices, delivery notes and reports to substantiate the use of funds.

That they (ASSL) could not ascertain whether proper public financial management procedures were followed as there were no supporting documents.

“We recommended that the Director of Finance should ensure that the payment vouchers and the related supporting documents are submitted for audit inspection,” the report stated.

That payment vouchers and supporting documents in respect of payment totaling SLE3,422,299.07 representing 61% of the total expenditures were submitted and verified, leaving a balance of SLE2,162,303.08 for which the issue is partially resolved.

The report furthered that payment totaling SLE10,292,006 were without adequate supporting documents such as invoices, delivery notes, end-user requests, receipts and back-to-office reports.

That payment totaling SLE1,127,044.19 were without evidence of approval from the former Acting Executive Director for which they recommended that the Director of Finance should submit the missing supporting documents to the ASSL or otherwise, the amount should be paid back into the Administration’s account.

Additionally, evidence of approval from the former Acting Executive Director should be submitted for audit inspection. Otherwise, the amount should be disallowed and refunded into the Administration’s account and evidence of refunds submitted to the ASSL.

“From the total payments of SLE10,292,006, adequate supporting documents totaling SLE3,711,209.34 representing 36% of the queried amount were submitted and verified, leaving a balance of SLE6,580,796.99,” the report stated.

And that there was no evidence of approval for payments totaling SLE1,127,044.19 for which the issue remains unresolved.

Based on the irregularities captured by the report, SLMA is to account for the sum of SLE9,870,144.26 which is equivalent to the sum of Le9.8 billion in the old Leones.