The Auditors questioned transactions carried by the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) such as donation to the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Political Affairs and Defense (tickets), payment for Civil Society facilitation in Bo, payment for advocacy support for the FY 2020 budget support for NPPA and that to certain persons named Brima Bangura and Joseph B Dauda a Monthly CPD allowance from 2017 to 2019.

According to the Auditor General, Government of Sierra Leone funds cannot be donated unless it is part of the authority’s 2019 approved budget. On the civil society, the Auditors noted that it is not clear what sort of facilitation Child Welfare Society SL provided for the launching of the Authority’s Bo office.

Also, it is unclear why the Authority paid the Sierra Leone Civil rights Coalition to advocate for budgetary support as documentation were not provided to support the payment of the two persons below. The total sum for such for such payment accounted for Le71,500,000 with the auditors recommending that relevant information and documents be provided by the Authority to clear issues mentioned.

According to Success Newspaper, the Chief Executive Officer’s response noted that such was not a donation, but rather financial assistance given towards request received from the said Committee. That is in respect of the ticket the Parliamentary Oversight Committees explaining further that it was a mistake at the posting stage of the transaction and as such it was wrongly classified. He said the wrong classification has been corrected and the said expense reclassified.

On the civil society, the responded that it was not a donation but rather payment made to facilitate Civil society facilitation on sensitization in Bo on the role of the NPPA in sensitizing public procurement processes and procedures in the south and eastern regions of the country adding that the wrong classification was done at the transaction posting stage but has been duly addressed.