Contributed
Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Sahr Jusu has claimed that statements made by the Auditor General in the Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) Lara Taylor-Pearce indicates “an ulterior motive, otherwise she would not have taken the 2017 and 2018 figures and included those figures in the 2019 Audit report. It is unacceptable.”
Mr. Jusu was speaking at the usual weekly press conference held in the conference room of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Youyi Building in Freetown.
He was addressing the press on recent developments regarding what most observers described as a war of words between the Financial Secretary Sahr Jusu and the Auditor General Lara Taylor-Pearce following the release of the 2018 and 2019 audit reports.
He went on to state that all MDAs are supposed to pay into the Single Treasury Account all revenue collected so that the government can have access to such monies for development purposes. He said it is incorrect and misleading for the ASSL to give the public the impression that they are accruing revenue when in actual fact the ASSL collects revenue in the form of fees paid to it by MDAs and other public entities to carry out its work.
Mr. Jusu informed journalists that the letter written to the Auditor General recently according to Mr. Jusu was to inform her that the Finance Ministry was impressed with the work of the ASSL but that no one was above the law and therefore the ASSL should resort to paying into the TSA all monies accrued by way of taxes, levies, fines fees and in other forms, adding that this had been communicated to the Accountant General and the Speaker of Parliament.
He went on to state that as Financial Secretary he had at one time encouraged the ASSL to liaise with the Accountant General’s office so that all fees collected by the ASSL could be properly deposited and accounted for.
He lamented that the Finance Ministry had provided vehicles to boost the work of the ASSL but that this was not reflected in the ASSL Reports.
He informed his audience that so far, the Finance Ministry has been able to meet and discuss this sensitive issue with NGOs like CGG, CARL and others as a way of getting them to better understand the issue to be able to better sensitize the general public, adding that he is extremely happy that the Auditor General and her team are improving transparency and accountability, adding that the Finance Ministry had procurement officers working round the clock to assist ASSL to make its work more efficient.
He threw a challenge to the Auditor General and her team to come up with evidences, adding that nowhere in the world is there an audit service which does not make space for persons or institutions of interest named in an audit to defend themselves adequately.
He hoped that the two institutions continue to work amicably for the overall development of the country.
The conference was chaired by the Deputy Minister of Information and Communication, Mamadie Gobeh-Kamara.
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