Coordinator for Budget Advocacy Network(BAN), Abu Bakarr Kamara, has accused Parliament of delaying debates on different Auditor General’s Reports.

The BAN Coordinator was accused in a recent interview on the Good Morning Salone Program on Radio Democracy when giving their position as an
organization on the ongoing FY2023 Budget Hearings in the Ministry of Finance. According to Abu Bakarr Kamara, though Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) has tabled the 2019 and 2020 Audit Reports before Parliament, the august body has delayed debates on the two reports.

He claimed that the accountability of Parliament in terms of audit reports has been stifled, adding that the august body is supposed to produce reports on the Auditor General’s Reports as to which action should be taken for public officials to account for their stewardships. The BAN Coordinator emphasized that the failure of Parliament to debate the audit reports have resulted in Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAS) refusing to adhere to the recommendations of the audit reports.

Mr Kamara averred that Parliament has a cardinal role to play in terms of ensuring that accountability is maintained in all MDAs and other sectors that receive budget allocations from the Government of Sierra Leone (GOSL). The BAN Coordinator, therefore, urged lawmakers to quickly debate the two audit reports before the dissolution of Parliament.