Govt Loses NLe 44Million Audit Report Reveals…

The 2024 Auditor General’s Annual Report has laid bare the scale of financial mismanagement within Sierra Leone’s public sector, revealing that more than NLe 44.8 million was lost through a wide range of irregularities across ministries, departments and agencies. The findings, presented in Table 2 on page 71 of the report, point to persistent weaknesses in payroll controls, documentation, revenue administration and statutory compliance, raising renewed concerns about fiscal discipline and public accountability.

 

At the centre of the domestic losses is payroll management, which alone accounted for NLe 13,771,217.31. The audit highlights serious flaws in payroll oversight, including evidence of ghost workers, duplicate salary payments and inadequate verification processes. These weaknesses suggest that existing controls are either poorly enforced or systematically bypassed, allowing public funds to be diverted without timely detection.

 

Closely following payroll losses were payments made without supporting documents, amounting to NLe 11,427,404.03. The Auditor General noted that in many cases, vouchers lacked receipts, invoices or approval records, making it impossible to verify whether the expenditures were legitimate or delivered value for money. Such practices directly violate public financial management regulations and undermine transparency in government spending.

 

Revenue management was another major area of concern, with losses totalling Le 10,498,770.00. The report indicates that revenues collected by some entities were either underreported, not properly recorded or not lodged into designated government accounts. These lapses weaken the government’s revenue base and constrain its ability to finance public services and development programmes.

 

Statutory deductions, including Withholding Taxes, PAYE and GST, accounted for Le 3,886,176.62 in irregularities. According to the audit, these deductions were either not withheld at source or, when withheld, were not remitted to the appropriate authorities. This practice not only breaches tax laws but also deprives the state of critical revenue needed to fund national priorities.

 

Contract management irregularities resulted in losses of Le 3,018,467.00, while asset management discrepancies accounted for Le 2,227,810.00. The report observed that several contract files lacked proper evaluation and approval reports, and that assets purchased with public funds were not adequately recorded or tracked. In some cases, assets could not be physically verified, increasing the risk of loss or misuse.

 

Beyond domestic currency losses, the audit also uncovered significant irregularities in foreign currency transactions. These included $935,717.33 USD and €7,230.96 EUR, largely linked to statutory deductions and poorly managed contracts under internationally funded or donor-supported projects. Such findings expose Sierra Leone to reputational risks and could potentially affect future donor confidence and the timely disbursement of external funding.

 

The Auditor General stressed that payments were routinely made without adequate supporting documentation and that statutory deductions were not consistently complied with. The report further emphasized that these practices reflect systemic problems rather than isolated incidents, pointing to weak internal controls and limited enforcement of existing financial regulations.

 

Taken together, the cumulative losses of over NLe 44.8 million, nearly one million US dollars and more than seven thousand euros underscore the magnitude of financial leakages within the public sector. Analysts warn that continued mismanagement of this scale undermines budget credibility, erodes public trust and limits the government’s capacity to deliver essential services such as healthcare, education and infrastructure.

 

In response to these findings, the Auditor General called for urgent reforms to strengthen financial management systems across government. Key recommendations include the digitization of payroll and asset registers to reduce manual manipulation, stronger procurement and contract oversight, stricter enforcement of statutory deductions, and more robust internal audit functions within ministries and agencies. Without decisive action, the report warns, financial irregularities are likely to persist, further straining Sierra Leone’s already limited public resources.