The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament of Sierra Leone, chaired by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, on Monday, 3rd November 2025, commenced its public hearings with some local councils in the Eastern Region, mainly Kenema City, Kenema and Kailahun District Councils.
The engagements took place at the Kenema District Council Hall in respect of queries raised in the Auditor General’s Report for 2023.
In his opening statement, the dynamic Chairman underscored the importance of the Committee’s oversight role and highlighted key audit queries raised in the said Report including tax exemptions, mining concessions, consultancy, the challenged Petra system, poor revenue mobilization and failure to deduct and pay withholding taxes to the NRA. He also called on council authorities to ensure strict adherence to prudent financial management practices and procedures through verifiable accountable standards.
Outlining the mandate of the Committee, the head of Secretariat of the PAC, Mr. Augustine Sesay, who also serves as deputy Director of Committees, referenced provisions in the Constitution of Sierra Leone and the Standing Orders of Parliament, which empowered the Committee to examine the audited accounts of government entities and ensure transparency in the use of public funds, as espoused in the Auditor General’s Report, for the period under review.
During the hearings, the Committee engaged Kenema District Council, the Kenema City Council, and the Kailahun District Council.
Some of the queries were addressed, others needed follow-up actions by the Auditors and some resolutions were reached by the Committee to ascertain tax exemptions, consultancy, to regularize issues relating withholding taxes, the challenged Petra system and the need to improve revenue mobilization and performance through a line by line revenue projections, allocations, mobilizations, and performances as a yardstick, effective 2024 Auditor General’s Report to determine performing revenue streams to be a determinant for the allocation of resources by government to the local councils for futuristic budgeting purposes.
