…TO STRENGTHEN COLLABORATION
The Auditor-General of Sierra Leone together with his team, recently paid a courtesy call on the Chief Justice at his Chambers, Law Courts Building,Siaka Stevens Street in Freetown.
The Chief Justice Hon. Justice Komba Kamanda warmly welcomed the ASSL team to his Chambers. He congratulated Mr. Abdul Aziz on his appointment as Auditor-General of Sierra Leone after having acted in that capacity for the past three years.
The Auditor-General in return also congratulated the Chief Justice on his appointment as the head of the Judiciary of Sierra Leone. He commended the support given by the Judiciary during the formulation process of the recently enacted Audit Service Regulations 2024. Mr. Aziz stated that the Judiciary being a key institution that upholds the rule of law in Sierra Leone, he believes that it would provide the necessary legislative function on the proceedings related to surcharge outcomes.
Furthermore, the Auditor-General highlighted that the ASSL has a mandate to audit and report on all public entities, including the Judiciary and the implementation of audit recommendations is key for their effective operations and meeting outlined objectives. He assured the Chief Justice of the ASSL’s continued collaboration in the exercise of their exclusive mandates as provided by law.
Mr Selvin Bell, Deputy Auditor-General, Mr. Mohamed Juldeh Barrie, Acting Deputy Auditor-General and Ms. Kadijatu Zainab Bangura, ASSL’s Legal Manager, then provided a brief overview on the ASSL’s prior consultations with the Judiciary on the Regulations formulation process together with the provisions on surcharge and disallowance mechanism as provided by the Audit Service Act, 2014 (as amended in 2023), the Local Government Act, 2022 and the Public Financial Management Act, 2016.
In reaction, the Chief Justice affirmed the similar roles of both institutions in upholding accountability in Sierra Leone. He assured the ASSL that the doors of the Judiciary are always open to the ASSL and the general public on any issue that needs their attention. He highlighted that the need for collaboration between accountability institutions is a welcomed initiative, and that the Judiciary is always willing to act as a neutral agent to attend to the justice needs of the public and state institutions.
He commended the ASSL for maintaining the high standards of its Annual Report, and mentioned that every country that intends to make progress must ensure that its national audit institution is both credible and independent. He concluded by assuring the ASSL of its commitment to provide support to the institution whenever called upon to do so.
Hon. Justice Alusine Sesay joined in by also congratulating the Auditor-General on being appointed to a substantive capacity as the head of the ASSL. He also commended the ASSL for performing their role as oversight authority on the operations of all public institutions in the country. He added that like the ASSL, the Judiciary is an independent body with a mandate to uphold law enforcement and interpretation of the laws of Sierra Leone. He suggested that the ASSL should collaborate with the Judicial and Legal Training Institute to provide training on the legislative provisions on disallowance and surcharge mechanism, to capacitate judges who shall be addressing such issues in the near future.
The meeting concluded after the heads of both the Judiciary and the ASSL exchanged assurances of collaboration in promoting accountability in Sierra Leone.
