According to figures from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Defence and the Sierra Leone Police exceeded their actual expenditure for the fiscal year 2022, totaling NLe315.7.

Initially, the FY2022 budget allocated NLe137.4 million for the Ministry of Defence, but it was later revised to NLe175.3 million. However, the actual expenditure amounted to NLe390.1 million, resulting in an over-expenditure of NLe214.8 million.

The Ministry of Finance identified several factors contributing to this overrun. Critical expenditures included NLe50.9 million for procuring fuel for operations, NLe50.7 million for rice and ration cash allowances for officers, NLe60.3 million for procuring medical drugs, X-Ray films, and laboratory reagents for military hospitals, NLe37.5 million for supplying military kits/uniforms to the RSLAF, and NLe9.8 million for recruiting and training 300 specialist personnel for the RSLAF.

As for the Sierra Leone Police, the initial budget allocation for FY2022 was NLe110.1 million, but it was revised to NLe214.0 million. Out of this amount, NLe140.7 million was allocated for critical expenditures, including fuel, rice for officers, and ration cash allowances. The remaining NLe73.3 million was intended for security hardware, uniforms, and other logistics. However, the actual expenditure for FY2022 amounted to NLe316.9 million, resulting in an overrun of NLe102.9 million.

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The Ministry of Finance provided further explanations for the overrun. In terms of administrative and operating costs, the major cost drivers were related to fuel expenses caused by intermittent increases in fuel prices.

This led to additional fuel costs of NLe25.0 million due to the fixed monthly volume of 247,000 liters and the price increase from NLe10 to NLe22 per liter in January. Furthermore, outstanding fuel costs from 2021 and fuel for emergency operations on August 10 amounted to NLe8.6 million.

Another expenditure category was ration cash allowances for police personnel about the August 10th protest, which amounted to NLe5.8 million.

The “Rice for Officers and Other Ranks” expenditure category was mainly influenced by price increases and arrears payment. It included NLe29.2 million for rice arrears from August to December 2021, NLe11.1 million for price differences in rice supplied to the SLP between April and September 2021, and NLe42.3 million for rice supply to the SLP from January to June 2022.

In the category of “Security Hardware, Uniforms, and Other Logistics,” expenses were driven by various procurements. NLe71.4 million was used for procuring public order security equipment to enhance police operations and curb riots and other unlawful offenses nationwide.

Additionally, NLe9.9 million and NLe40.7 million were spent on the supply and delivery of 20 heavy-duty trucks and 25 hard-top vehicles, respectively, to enhance police operations in preparation for the 2023 General Elections.

Other expenses included NLe9.9 million for procuring uniforms, NLe4.4 million for medical equipment, and NLe5.8 million for stationery procurement.