By- Aruna Rashed Toma Bangura

The Audit report for 2021 has disclosed that the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone made payment to the tune of Le740,838,501 with no sufficient supporting document to justify the disbursed fund as missing documents included receipts, invoices, delivery notes, training reports etc.

The report stated that ECSL did not provide the basis for providing and calculating lunch/overtime payments to staff for extra hours worked totaling Le80, 538,500 which is in contradiction of Section 5.4-5.6 of the 2007 standing order B of the Commission as evidence of receipt of cash was not submitted for review.

It furthered that ECSL did not provide the audit team with a policy governing the internship program and the request from the relevant institutions and evidence to confirm payments to interns in the sum of Le31, 800,000, adding that the sum of Le34, 614,000 for fuel chit, fuel reconciliation and register, bike logbook and generator logbook for fuel procured and used for the period under review were not submitted to the auditors for verification.

It went on to disclose that payments of Le35, 250,000 were paid without minutes, attendance register and evidence showing recipients’ signatures for payment made to audit committee member