In its continued hearings into queries raised in the Auditor General’s Reports for the financial years 2021 and 2022, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, on Wednesday 04/09/2024, ordered Union Trust Bank Kenema Branch to pay 460 million old Leone into SLRSA’s Account.
This was as a result of a 471 million old Leones query that was raised in the Auditor General’s Report for 2022 relating to financial discrepancies between the account holder and the Bank.
The Committee also ruled that the Bank Manager for UTB Kenema Branch should pay the 11 million old Leones for negligence and failure to do due diligence, within two months, and also recommended for his suspension, transfer and demotion below the rank of a Branch Manager.
Furthermore, the Deputy Speaker revealed that following a ruling by PAC on budgetary enhancement, the Ministry of Finance had received requests from MDAs amounting to 198 billion old Leones subject to approval by the PAC. This, he said, before now, the Ministry of Finance would have ordinarily processed those requests without recourse to Parliament.
Budgetary enhancements are monies outside the approved budget by Parliament for the services of the Republic of Sierra Leone.