BY MOHAMED M. SESAY
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament who doubles as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Hon. Solomon Segepoh Thomas has raised a red flag on public officers not to run the State like gangsters wherein laws and procedures are not followed in the management of public funds.
Hon. Segepoh Thomas made this statement during public hearing on the 2018 -2020 Auditor General Report’s on the Ministry of Trade and Industry for termination of contracts without due procurement process.
The Chairman of the Public Account Committee also referenced the Audit Report that the contracts were terminated without any evidence of notification of breach to trigger termination as enshrined in the details for the port of Freetown, contract for the design implementation and up to date cargo handling procedure for the airport and land borders of Sierra Leone and contract for the provisions of pre-shipment inspection programmes for the nitty port at the Sierra Leone Rutile ( export of Rutile & bauxite) and at the Queen Elizabeth 11Quay ( all exports).
The Deputy Speaker also maintained that great concerns in the Audit Report entail legal ramifications, responsibilities and liabilities of government, as stated in the case of early terminations.
He added that there was no evidence of consultation with the Law Officers’ Department prior to the termination of the contracts. Hon. Thomas encouraged the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) acting on recommendations from the Law Officers’ Department to ensure the state is protected from litigation that might result from such terminations.
“In the Auditor’s comment, it stated that the relevant evidence that due processes were followed in the termination of the contracts with Sierra Inspection Company Limited and Specialist Inspection Services (SL) Limited were not made available for inspection. The issue is therefore unresolved. Also for African Link Inspection Company (ALIC), we saw evidence of correspondences between the Ministry of Finance and the Law Officers’ Department”, he said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry Augustine Sheku in his response, said due process was followed in the termination of the contracts referred to in the recommendations. He added that the process was informed by the decision of a cross-section of cabinet that reviewed the agreements after several issues were raised over breaches perpetuated by African Links. “The related documents in this regard are available for your verification.”
Augustine Sheku also intimated that the Minister of Trade received a letter from the Chief Minister to terminate the contracts. He emphasized that there was no evidence of breach of contract.