The Acting Chief Administrator of the Freetown City Council (FCC) said that they are responding to queries raised by the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Transparency and Accountability on the Auditor General Report for 2023 for various queries proffered.
They are responding to how far they have gone with uncollected revenues, which they set annually, but difficulties arise when they do not meet their target.
The Chairman of the Transparency and Accountability Committee Hon Ambrose Maada Labby, asked the Chief Administrator about the money the council collected in 2023.
The Acting Chief Administrator said in 2023, the council collected NLE38 m. Hon Lebby asked what their target for 2023 was, and the Chief Administrator responded that their target is Nle39M.
Hon Lebby said that they met about 90% of their target, but asked about the amount that was banked and about the Le 11. 906, which was not banked, but the Chief Administrator called on the Finance Officer about the money in question.
The Finance Officer told the committee that the amount of money was queried during the audit process in the 2023 Auditor General report, but what he learnt in the revenue line was Nle11M from the market, which was not banked.
Hon Lebby asked for the cheque, the Finance Officer responded that they have a paying slip, explaining that when they received the market dues, they are not banked on the very day they are collected.
The Finance Officer explained that there are situations in the council where they would use the market dues for activities instead of writing cheques.
The Finance Officer said he took office 6 months ago, giving an instance that when there was a visitor from overseas, they had to take from the market due to this.
Hon Lebby asked what the mission of the visitor from overseas was. The Finance Officer responded that the visitor was there to monitor projects.
The Chairman said they should attach a budget line for this project and not use the market dues. The committee stands them down for lack of documentation.
