By Thomas Dixon
Protector of the Public Purse, Auditor Service Sierra Leone has in their Annual Audit reports outlined number of payroll irregularities at the Ministry of Finance which has resulted in the missing of over Le5.3 Billion which is little above US$500,000.
The Auditor observed that 50 staff were on the payroll of the Ministry for which a total salary of Le2,470,202,760 were paid to them without evidence of appointment letters and, or transfer letters to confirm their eligibility as staff.
That they (Auditors) recommended that the Deputy Financial Secretary, Administration, should ensure that the relevant documentary evidence be provided to justify the salaries paid to them.
Although the Deputy Financial Secretary, Administration provided evidence, there were still 27 staff on the payroll with salaries to the tune of Le1,252,822,596 in 2019 without documentary evidence and as such, the Auditors deemed the issue unresolved.
Also, the auditors revealed that upon observation of the payroll, it was discovered that a total of Le Le1,741,523,684 was indicated an increase on certain staff salaries but there was no evidence to justify the reasons for the said increases.
That in addition, salary arrears were paid to staff and consultants of the Ministry which totalled Le890,468,018 and Le 230,591,459 respectively for which there were no supporting documents.
In his response, the Deputy Financial Secretary, Administration stated that the relevant supporting documents were available for verification but the auditors claimed that the recommended documentary evidence was not provided for outstanding total monthly increase of Le78,235,634 on certain employees’ basic salaries and salary arrears of Le183,822,803 and Le155,874,178 respectively for the period under review.
Another issue identified by the auditors is that employees in the ministry were receiving salaries but not in the updated staff list
“We compared the names of employees in the Ministry’s staff list with the names on monthly payrolls in 2019. We observed that the names of 63 employees were seen in the payroll vouchers who received salaries and other allowances (net pay) totalling Le4,757,240,782 but these names were not on the staff list provided by the Ministry,” the auditors revealed.
Responding to the queries, the Deputy Financial Secretary, Administration said that the reason for that is as a result of split in the Ministry which resulted in the creating of Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPED).
The Auditor was unconvinced and concluded that the remaining 55 employees received salaries and other allowances (Net Pay) totalling Le3,678,352,905 under the Ministry of Finance, but not in the updated staff list of the Ministry.
