By Santigie Sesay in USA
FREETOWN, March 10 (232news.com) – The way Sierra Leoneans shout about things when they unfold is like a vapor sprouting from a hot soup. The people are quick to shout but they are also too quick to forget about things as if they never happened. Think about the LAC saga, the Kei Kamara penalty miss, the sacking of Lara Taylor Pearce and the massive unearthing of billons stolen by government officials in 2020. Nobody is talking about these issues anymore.
It seems as if President Bio and the Commissioner for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC); Francis Ben Kelfala has a kept sealed lips on the grand corruption discovered by the auditors. Before the advent of Christmas, Francis Ben Kelfala made some bogus statements alluding that vault controllers of various Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) indicted by Report might spend their holiday is jail. But those were empty words lacking any force of action.
All of a sudden, the country has eventually turned into a cemetery. No one is saying anything anymore. The perpetrators of corruptions are having a field day; still enjoying their loots while the country is lagging behind in terms of development. But that is not thrust of this.
In my quest to conduct postmortem on the Auditor general’s report, in this piece, I will be looking at the most shameful aspect of the report. Yes, the aspect exposing the Office of the President and how they got the highest share of the loots.
I knew from the onset that president Bio was merely paying lip-service to the fight against corruption in Sierra Leone. His political phrase of ‘tok en do’ is only eminent on his excessive thirst for travelling. In terms of fighting corruption, ameliorating the man-made poverty in the country, the president is only ‘tok en twist’
The agenda to amass wealth through persistent travels abroad with huge per diems for himself and his ‘ayampe’ wife, Fatima Bio, is a novelty. The kleptomaniac nature of president Bio does not conforms to the saying that only ‘fools and God don’t change’. Maybe he is the latter since he has blatantly refused to change is appetite for travelling.
As Dr. Yumkella aptly summarizes it, the President has done over eighty oversea trips just in four years. “If the average falsification (of receipt) is $150-200 thousand per trip (based on this case study of the Lebanon trip), then for 60-80 trips, the range is $6 million to $16 million may have been embezzled”. I won’t dilate further on this startling revelation.
To prove me right, look at pages 439 of the 2020 Auditor General’s report. Therein, the report notes that “appropriate retirement details were not provided for payments with regard to US$135,000, an equivalent of Le1,327,758,800, made for various overseas travels by President Julius Maada Bio and the First Lady.”
Imagine, the president who should be a pacesetter in every sense, but unfortunately, he is here taking the lead in wreaking the economy of the country. what is more shameful is the auditor general telling us that originals and true copies of receipts to support total payment of over one hundred and fifty six thousand, (US$156,113.73) for hotel accommodation and medical treatment was not submitted for audit inspection. This is unheard off eh?
Additionally, an excerpt from pages 440 states that “travelling officers were paid excess Daily Subsistence Allowances (DSA) totaling US$7,404 and US$564 was underpaid DSA. Of the funds provided to cover the cost of medical bill for the President and subsistence allowances, payments totalling US$73,416 was made to cover the cost of accommodation of eight travelling officers, even though full DSAs which amounted to US$75,852 to cover such cost had been paid to them. This is an evidence of double dipping.”
I know some of you will argue that the president should not be bashed at for this financial dishonor hanging over the presidency; since he does not directly handle finances. Such a thought is definitely not logical. Haven’t you ever heard that ‘the buck stops’ at the feet of the president? I know you have. The President appointed all those directly working under his supervision at State House and they are answerable to him. So whatever they do, including forging receipts of hotels must first have the expressed permission of the president.
Therefore, the president bears the greatest responsibility since we voted for him and he appointed all those forming the government. At the same time, therefore, we should hold him accountable and take him by his words-to make corruption a very expensive act in Sierra Leone.
Despite the fact that President Bio is really corrupt, he is now providing his office as safe haven for his official and his wife to plunder the country’s wealth. If for argument sake that the president does not condone corruption, why hasn’t he punished any of those officials at State house who were named in the Audit report? If only the president is serious about fighting corruption in the country, he should have put those officials aside for investigation as it has been happening in the past. This shameful act of receipt forgery or presenting fake receipts to auditors, double dipping, by the president and cohorts has brought the name of the presidency to disrepute. Since these thieves are still occupying their offices, enjoying the protection of the president, the ACC has been restrained from taking any action against State House and other MDAs.
In all of this, the auditors were swift to recommend that “the Principal Assistant to the Secretary to the President in collaboration with the State Chief of Protocol and the Accountant should provide explanation supported by documentary evidence the circumstances that led to the selection of the company to provide private jet service. They should also ensure that originals of receipts for hotel accommodation and medical treatment are provided for audit inspection”.
I am made to understand that some people are surreptitiously paying back their loots behind closed doors. This, in itself is corruption since the tenets of corruption is transparency. What has stood out clearly is that, under the present regime, corruption is talk-shop that is not backed by any action. That is why the office of the president should be awarded as the most corrupt sector in Sierra Leone.
