By: Audrey Raymonda John
The state has closed its case with seven witnesses in the tribunal to which it had filed a case on 3rd June 2022 of professional misconduct, conflict of interest, breach of confidentiality and third party confirmation against the suspended Auditor General Lara Taylor Pearce and her Deputy Tamba Momoh.
Roland Wright, Lawyer for Lara Taylor Pearce insisted to the three member panel that he needed two weeks to prepare for his defense saying he was ambushed by the state to abruptly end without prior notice of how many witnesses they intended to call. The tribunal however gave him up to Thursday 30th November.
At the commencement of proceedings on Thursday 23rd November, Principal State Lawyer – Ahmed James Bockarie produced and tendered a 186 page attendance register for senior management covering the period 2015 to 2021 and a two page letter which was said to have been written by the suspended auditor general dated 22nd October 2021 addressed to the secretary to the president.
On Tuesday, two senior staff members of Audit Service Sierra Leone have said that the suspended Auditor General – Lara Taylor Pearce instructed an audit team to abandon a performance auditing exercise on the office of the Freetown City Mayor’s Transform Freetown project. As Patrick Sallia reports, Principal Auditor – Alfred Saffa and Deputy Auditor General – Aiah Gbondo Tugbawa were the sixth and seventh state witnesses in the ongoing tribunal to investigate allegations of professional misconduct, conflict of interest, breach of confidentiality and third party confirmation against Lara Taylor Pearce and her Deputy Tamba Momoh.
REPORT
The sixth state witness Alfred Saffa who said has worked at audit Sierra Leone for 20 years told the tribunal that he was tasked to carry out audit of local Councils’ development plan for 2019 for which
The performance audit team he said included him, Ibrahim Massaquoi, Ansu Koroma, Solomon Suluku, Aiah Gbondo Tugbawa who was assistant auditor general at the time and was the supervisor of the exercise and the suspended deputy auditor general Tamba Momoh.
Lara Taylor Pearce according to him was the Auditor general.
The audit was on the transform Freetown project that was not carried out because he said Lara Taylor Pearce instructed the team to abandon the said audit and that the financial auditors should rather do the said audit.
Alfred estimated that it was about 41 projects that were under the transform Freetown project, and when the need arouse for the said audit on the Freetown city council, he said the issue was discussed with Tamba Momoh who failed to meet to his promise of getting back to the team after discussing with Lara Taylor Pearce even after some correspondences.
Lara the witness said rather told the said audit team that the financial auditors who were already on a similar exercise at the Municipal council would undertake the audit on the Transform Freetown Project. Financial audit he said however only look into financial statements of institutions different from performance audit.
Performance audit he defined as an independent assessment of whether government undertakings, operations, systems work in line with the efficiency, economy and effectiveness, and whether there’s room for improvement. Such exercises Alfred Saffa said lasts between nine months and a year.
Asked whether he was aware the financial auditors conducted the performance audit his team was instructed to abandon, the witness responded in the negative.
He told Lawyer Roland Wright during cross examination that Lara was absent from office during that period but went further to say that their internal policy dictates that when the auditor general or any of the four deputies are absent, the other immediately takes over.
The witness said he has on several occasions’ drafted letters on behalf of his supervisor for the auditor general to sign citing the years he spent auditing parliament.
He however said it is not every letter to an auditee that is signed by the auditor general.
The seventh state witness Aiah Gbondo Tugbawa who is the Deputy Auditor Generals responsible for auditing the general purpose financial statements, public enterprises, provides executive leadership to senior management staff made similar testimony at the extensive proceeding on Wednesday.
He said he has worked at the said institution for about 18 year.
The said audit exercise he told the commission of inquiry was to assess the efficiency regarding planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of local councils’ development plans.
The Freetown City Council’s, and precisely the transform Freetown project which was aimed at beautifying the capital city with about 49 components supported by the government and donor organisations he said was a sample in order to ensure value for money of public funds in line with the audit service act of 2014.
For the donor funds, he said there were funds transferred directly to the Freetown city council and other funds through implementing partners.
Mr. Tugbawa in his boisterous posture before the three member panel said he was present at the initial conference before the Audit was initiated after an engagement letter was sent to the mayor detailing the terms and conditions of the audit.
He said they sent request to the FCC precisely the Mayor for certain documents which he said were delayed even though an assurance had been made by Madam Yvonne Aki Sawyerr to make such documents available.
He said it was only at the conclusion by the financial auditors certain revelations were obtained but not sufficient to have a comprehensive view of the transform Freetown project.
Therefore, he said an email was sent to the Mayor about the shortfall which was never forthcoming.
Aiah said he gave an instruction for stet with 6 {Alfred Saffa} to draft a letter for the Mayor to give authority for the audit team to interview the implementing partners.
At the time the said letter was drafted, he said himself and Tamba Momoh were conducting a real-time audit of the covid-19 funds on which basis Alfred was asked to take the letter to the auditor general for her signature.
Mr. Saffa the witness said returned to him that the auditor general refused to sign the said draft letter.
Consequently, he said he took that issue up with Tamba Momoh for discussion who responded that the Mayor was a credible person and someone with integrity. That Mr. Tugbawa said got him angry. From that point he said he asked Mr. Momoh certain crucial questions which the suspended man promised to take up with the auditor general and get back to him (the witness} which he failed to do. As a result he said three of his colleagues angrily resigned from the audit service.
Asked whether the audit team were allowed to contact the funders and implementers, the witness said the law does permit them to contact a third party without the consent of the auditee.
The said register indicates that Tamba Momoh did not sign the said document 3rd February 2020, the date one of the witnesses had said the suspended deputy auditor general violated official code when he went on to conduct a private audit in Karene district.
Meanwhile, a Military Officer, Charles Kamara was on Thursday 23rd November 2023 sent on remand by Magistrate Mark Ngegba of Court Number one for allegedly murdering Bai Kamara at Rogbangba Junction Freetown on Monday 16th October 2023.