John Kelly Marah
In late 2025, Sierra Leone’s Auditor General released the much-anticipated 2024 Audit Report, revealing widespread financial mismanagement and governance weaknesses across government institutions. The report paints a troubling picture of how public funds were handled during the 2024 financial year, raising serious concerns about accountability, transparency, and the effectiveness of internal controls in the public sector.
Auditors found that over NLe 243.9 million was lost due to irregularities in the handling of public funds. Most of these losses appeared in the Government Purpose Financial Statements (GPFS), pointing to systemic issues in revenue collection, spending oversight, and financial record-keeping. Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), donor-funded projects, and local councils all contributed to the total.
Key problem areas included:
Revenue management failures, where weak oversights and poor adherence to financial rules allowed substantial funds to go uncollected or unaccounted for — affecting essential services like education, health, and infrastructure.
Payroll irregularities, including potential “ghost workers” and unauthorized salary payments, costing millions.
Statutory deductions not remitted, with taxes and pension contributions totaling more than NLe 38 million left unpaid.
Poor contract, asset, and inventory controls, including missing documentation and flawed procurement practices.
In a related report, smaller but still significant irregularities totaling over NLe 44.8 million were identified, alongside nearly US $1 million and €7,000 EUR, further underscoring deep-rooted governance issues.
The audit also examined Sierra Leone’s diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C. revealing that only 11 % of consular revenue collected (about US $1.84 m) was remitted into the national treasury. Significant sums, including unclaimed salaries, were left outside official accounts — a startling lapse in financial oversight that auditors said exposed public funds to misuse.
Beyond the headline figures, the report highlighted institutional failures such as poor asset management at the Sierra Leone National Shipping Agency (SLNSA). Auditors noted incomplete asset registers, weak internal audits, and missing documentation, prompting calls for the Anti-Corruption Commission and Parliament to investigate the agency’s practices.
One surprising aspect of the report was the exclusion of the Office of the President from its findings. The Deputy Auditor General explained that, ahead of publication, the President’s office had requested and undergone a special interim audit, which found that the institution met required financial standards — leading to its omission from the public report. This was described as an unprecedented development in Sierra Leone’s audit history.
The 2024 Auditor General’s Report highlights systemic issues in public financial management, with substantial funds lost to irregular practices and weak controls. Its revelations serve as a wake-up call for government institutions to tighten oversight, implement audit recommendations promptly, and reinforce mechanisms that protect public assets and revenues.
