By Bobor Dan Kamara
The 2023 Audit Report states that the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources was pinpointed to have paid a whooping sum of One Hundred and Ninety-eight Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy-two New Leones (NLe198,972) to 15 contract staffers in 2023 without following due process.
The Audit Report reveals that the Ministry turned down several compelling requests by the auditors to present the employment contracts of the said workers for audit review.
It is against this backdrop that the Audit Service states that there is a risk that these salaries were paid to individuals who were not entitled to receive them, leading to loss of government’s scarce resources.
To salvage the situation, the Report recommends that the names of the contract staffers be removed from the payroll and the amount already paid be recovered and refunded into the consolidated fund with evidence made available to the Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL).
Also, it is also revealed that 49 staff members who received Three Hundred and Seventy-eight Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifiteen New Leones (NLe 378,915) did not show up for physical verification. This act juxtaposes ghost workers with the genuine ones to milk from the consolidated fund.
