MDAs To Face Penalties For Noncompliance- PAC

By Desmond Issac Macauley
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament who is also the Chairman of the Public Account Committee (PAC), Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, has warned that starting next year Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) will face a fine of NL 5,000 for each document not presented to PAC when requested. The Chairman said that the measure is to enforce accuracy in PAC investigations.
During the hearing, issues regarding 75 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) listed in the national Gazette by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED) were raised.
The Committee found no evidence to confirm that these (NGOs) had made payment to the National Revenue Authority (NRA). Revenue from the NGOs accounted to approximately NLe182,500 and $5,000.
In their response, a representative from the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development said that the Ministry is not responsible for collecting funds from NGOs adding that NGOs are required to pay into an NRA designated account and present their receipt to the Ministry before obtaining their certificate.
The issue was resolved after discussions between the Public Account Committee (PAC) and the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED).