The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, (PAC) Hon. Solomon Sengepoh Thomas, has said in Freetown that his Committee  will on Monday January 22nd 2024, commenced public  hearing on the 2022 Auditor General’s report on public accounts of the State.

He told colleague Members of Parliament that they had invited the Inspector General of Police, William Fayai Sellu, and a representative of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to witness the first hearing.

He made the statement on Thursday January 18th 2024 when Chief Minister, Dr David Moinina Sengeh, had tabled the National Monitoring and Evaluation Agency ( NMEA)  Act, 2023 in Parliament.

In recent past, Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) embarked on a total of one hundred and eighty (108 ) audits.

Of this figure, thirty two (32)  are from the various  Ministries and Departments with forty five (45)  Public Enterprises and Commissions;  twenty two (22)  Local Councils; six Diplomatic Missions and three Performance audits.

The report contains irregularities with financial impact that needs to be critically looked into, according to many analysts.

The 2022 audit report reveals that over one hundred and thirty billion old Leones (135 bn ) were not accounted for by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), State Owned Paralstatals among others.

The decision by the Committee to do a public hearing comes in the wake of several criticisms from the general public, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) including Budget Advocacy Network (BAN)  and opposition political parties on the failure of the Committee to do public hearing on the 2020, 2021 and 2022 audit report.