Busted…! Leone Rock Metal Group In Big Time Corruption Scheme

By Aruna Momoh Kargbo

During an intense auditing of the Leone Rock Metal Group (LRMG) formerly of Kingho Mining Company, it was discovered that the Company has been seriously violating the laws of Sierra Leone as captured in the Local Content Act of 2016.
The three days auditing that was carried out by the Sierra Leone Local Content Agency unearthed plethora of anomalies being exhibited by the Leone Rock Metal Group (LRMG).
It was uncovered by the Agency that the LRMG employed a Chinese as a Human Resources Director who has worked for five years in that capacity instead of employing a Sierra Leonean in accordance with the laws.
At the time of the audit exercise, the company could not provide a detailed of the CVs of their expatriate staff and their procurement records to ascertain how the company awards contracts to various contractors.
“We are still not able to validate the experience and qualifications of their foreign staff. We still think that the Kingho Mining Company and by extension Leone Rock is still having everything to hide from us,” Director General of Sierra Leone Local Content Agency Fodeba Daboh said.
That on the third day of the auditing exercise, the Local Content Agency summoned over 10 of the contractors of the company but that only 3 of them showed up, further revealing that the 3 that showed up have major contracts with the company and are not owned or managed by Sierra Leoneans.
It is clear that Leone Rock Metal Group and its contractors and sub-contractors are in violation of the Local Content Laws in Sierra Leone, Fodaba Daboh stated.
Responding to the concerns, the Director of Human Resources Mohamed Daffe said that the issues raised by the Local Content Agency can be done by following due processes.
He noted that the Agency should not just go public without completing the auditing process and that the law states that it should be 21 days.
More on this in subsequent editions.