Africa 24 news

By Hassan I. Conteh

A public policy research group says the constitution is not clear on the aspects of the Auditor General’s autonomous powers.

“At the conclusion of it [Tribunal Report], I think, it is prudent for the public to know what actually happened,” says Mohamed Wurie Bah, legal officer at Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ).

He says the national constitution lacks provisions for the auditor general to reply to certain issues made against him/her.

To deny the two accused copies of the Tribunal’s report, Bah compares the situation to “like watching a football match but you don’t know what the outcome is,” I think, “it’s very unfair,” he said.

He was speaking on Friday 14th June, 2014 at a joint CSOs media briefing following the outcome of a Tribunal against former Auditor General of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce and Mr Tamba Momoh.

On November 8, 2021, Mrs. Taylor and deputy, Tamba Momoh were suspended from office on allegations of  ‘breach of confidentiality and professional misconduct’ while doing their audit findings on the operations and the use of public fund by the   government and public institutions.

The advocacy group, ILRAJ, holds the belief that to upholding the principles of justice making the report public is a determinant factor as it is also ‘prudent.’

ILRAJ is an independent, non-partisan public policy research and educational think-tank established to explain, monitor and contribute to the protection of human rights and the rule of law.

The think-tank group had been following up developments on the sacking of the country’s Auditor General, Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce, and her deputy, Mr Tamba Momoh, since 2021.

Apart from its demanding transparency and fairness on the report’s outcome, the legal research and human rights group has identified for a review on the section dealing with Auditor General’s powers thought to be infringed upon by the government on specific occasions.

In their latest joint statement, ILRAJ shared its position on the matter regarding the outcome of the tribunal that was set up to investigate Mrs. Pearce and Mr Momoh.

“Despite the conclusion of the tribunal, there has been no communication to the public regarding the next steps. CSOs emphasize that given the public nature of the investigation, principles of natural justice demand that the findings be communicated to Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce,Mr Tamba Momoh, and the public,” the press note reads in part.

“This is essential for upholding transparency, accountability, and the integrity of the investigative process,”it adds.

The Audit Service Sierra Leone, being headed up previously by Lara Taylor, has been releasing damning reports bordering on corruption occurring in public offices and the flouting of procedures on the country’s procurement policies.

Prof. Fredline M’Cormack-Hale, was 50/50 Group representative at the program hosted by BAN ( The Budget Advocacy Network).

She dilated on the rights to be enjoyed by the accused when tried by a court or any special court like the concluded tribunal.

“When you talk about justice, when you talk about fairness, those that were accused; it is important that they know this is the judgment that has been made against them.”

“So they’ll know how to respond and we have a process of constitutional reform, so the drafters must re-consider these issues in the drafting work.”