March 15, 2021
Albert Baron Ansu
Amidst the controversy about whether or not the Auditor General has the right to retain audit fees or should heed the instruction of the Ministry of Finance to restitute said money to the Treasury Single Account, a new twist has emerged. A-Z Newspaper has gathered that plans are underway for an international auditing firm to audit the Audit Service Sierra Leone.
Ministry of Finance is soliciting parliamentary approval on the issue, A-Z Newspapers has authoritative gleaned the inside information.
This planned decision to audit the auditor follows the legal opinion provided by the Solicitor General on whether the Audit Service Sierra Leone has the legal basis to retain the revenues collected for and on behalf of government having regard to the provisions in sections 3 (1) and 3 (2) of the fiscal Management and Control Act 2017.
The relevant legal provision was cited in the February 22nd 2021 letter addressed to the Financial Secretary Sahr Jusu when he sought legal opinion on the contentious issue.
“It is my considered opinion that the Audit fees collected by the ASSL for and on behalf of the government ought to be paid into the Consolidated Fund. My view is informed by the following provisions of the FMCA 2017.”
Section 3 (1) of the FMCA 2017 makes the stipulation in precise terms: “all monies held in the accounts of agencies and government shall, on the coming into operation of this Act be transferred into the Consolidated Fund.”
Clearly, it has been observed that the contrary view of the Auditor General on the issue is not tenable and smacks of insubordination to warrant an independent resolution of the issue using an international audit firm.
Mrs. Lara Taylor Pearce strongest argument is that: the Audit Service Sierra Leone ASSL is not a revenue generation entity but rather an entity that investigates the use of revenue generated for the public good by MDAs. All funds for the institution is from the consolidated fund in line with the 1991 constitution and the Single Treasury Account does not in any way include in its list of those that should deposit all their account there.
Also section 27 (2) of the Audit Service Act 2014 she is relying on does not override the provisions of the Financial Management and Control Act of 2017. The two are inconsistent, and in that case the latter is implied to repeal the earlier law. This is based on the Doctrine Implied repeal, A-Z newspaper has gathered from legal minds.
A-Z Newspaper has further researched the relevant laws to arrive at the conclusion that the emphasis is not on a ‘revenue collecting entity’ as a caveat for ministry, departments and agencies to return funds to the Treasury Single Account.
In the controversial circumstance, political commentators have come to terms with the suggestion that ASSL must lend itself to international scrutiny to allay suspicion that the institution is not hiding something by refusing to restitute audit fees collected over the years.
Parliament is yet to consider the request of the Ministry of Information urging. More on the story in the coming days.