Audit Service will audit COVID-19 funds- Finance Minister assures

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Finance Minister, Jacob Jusu Saffa has assured parliament that Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) will continue to provide real time guidance to NaCOVERC and has begun auditing the COVID-19 response. Speaking on the management of COVID-19 expenditures during his 2021 Budget presentation, Minister Saffa said that it is aimed at ensuring transparent and accountable use of funds for the response.

According to the Minister, since March 2020, Government had established a special COVID-19 account at the Bank of Sierra Leone into which funds are transferred weekly or as required from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF). “All cash donations are also lodged into this account. Additionally, NaCOVERC maintains a special operational account at a commercial bank. All disbursements from the COVID-19 account are lodged into this operational account.”

He informed the Speaker and Members of Parliament that his Ministry has published several reports providing updates on funds transferred into the COVID-19 accounts at the Bank of Sierra Leone and the sources of these funds (public and private). The reports he added also cover transfers from the COVID-19 accounts to NaCOVERC. NaCOVERC, the Minister said has also prepared financial statements as at 30th September 2020, covering emergency spending undertaken since the beginning of the crisis. “The statement captures information on spending based on a well-defined classification system. This is the result of the close collaboration between NaCOVERC’s fiduciary team and the Accountant-General’s Department to put in place an appropriate accounting and reporting framework and chart of accounts.”

In addition, the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) has begun publishing on its website contracts related to the COVID-19 interventions, and is committed to publishing all remaining contracts. “The information published includes the name of the beneficiary companies and the owners in line with the commitments made under our request for financial assistance from the IMF under the RCF. In addition to regular reporting, ASSL will carry out an audit of spending of all funds disbursed to NaCOVERC and the Government’s broader COVID-19 response” he said.

He further assured that going forward, Government will prepare and publish monthly financial reports on NaCOVERC’s financial transactions, and increase information carried out under the QAERP to provide a complete picture of the Government’s COVID-19 response. “Government will also continue to publish all large procurement contracts on a regular basis in line with the commitments made under the Government’s request for financial assistance from the IMF under the RCF.”

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