By Tejay Mans
Jonathan Teckham Acting Assistant Auditor-General (AAG), Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) Eastern Region has said that the imposition of fines for the late submission of supporting documents and receipts to the auditors will reduce even if not end the problem of untimely submission of requested supporting documents by auditees.
Teckham was speaking in an exclusive interview with this Writer at the Kenema District Council Hall, Kenema City following the ASSL’s Regional Popularization Workshop on the Audit Service Regulations (ASR) 2024 on Monday 23 June, 2025.
Explaining how the ASR 2024 will help mitigate the age-old problem of late submission of supporting documents and receipts, Teckham said it has been a commonplace for auditees to present documents to lawmakers despite the elaborate auditing efforts and requests for these documents by the auditors.
Teckham said, “The attitude of late submission of supporting documents boils to the attitude of some people who don’t take the audit process very seriously, and also the people of Sierra Leone who do not ask the right questions and yearn for more. Some people in these Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) feel that they are in these institutions to serve themselves.”
He added that some public servants and officers sometimes forget that they are paid from taxpayer’s money.
“If you’re not committed to the Audit Service it means by extension you’re not committed to the people of Sierra Leone,” Jonathan emphasized.
He noted that there is another aspect of weak capacity in which there are square pegs in round holes that sometimes result to problems in managing public accounts.
‘’ Even the ASSL provides training for its accountants who do not study auditing. They have been provided with a lot of training to handle the process but yet still you will see auditees wait until they get to parliament to produce documents we had long requested from them, despite the lot of engagements,” Teckham said.
“The Regulation will seriously change the cause of auditing in Sierra Leone. You know people don’t like to be fined and the Regulation makes provision for the levy of fines in situation of violation. We will ensure that we implement the Regulation to the latter. We will have to set up a Committee to look at whatever issues raised, if it involves surcharges, we will look at these issues so that when we take them to court, we know that the issue will not bounce back at us. If for example an auditee fail to provide supporting documents and receipts, automatically we take it that the auditee has not used the funds effectively and efficiently, so it will warrant a surcharge.
If an auditee knows that they are fined for violation, then they will desist from such acts,” Teckham said in a nonsense mood
Teckham further explained the nature and effects of surcharge, a sort of payment for breach that will make auditees begin to seat up tight, and be accountable to taxpayers monies.
Teckman appraised the ASSL’s operation in the Eastern Region as positive and with positive impact on the lives of the citizens by way of fostering effective government service delivery.
He said despite at times auditees want them to look bad, they are spending enormous time back and forth on the audit exercise especially on the timely submission of requested supporting documents.
He said that ASSL’s auditing process is very transparent using written and verbal communication to get the full participation and corporation of auditees.
