Sierra Leone Telegraph: 11 November 2021:
If there is one single political objective president Julius Maada Bio has been nursing since coming to power in 2018, it is the sacking of Sierra Leone’s most trusted public servant – the country’s Auditor General Mrs Lara Taylor Pearce whose annual audit reports have exposed massive corruption and embezzlement of public funds by successive governments.
Last year’s audit report exposed hundreds of millions of dollars that was either stolen or misused by ministers and officials in the Bio-led SLPP government.
Also, the Auditor General’s report into the use of funds by the Bio government meant for those dying from Covid19, made for very grim reading, with tens of millions of dollars reported missing or unaccounted for by the government.
Today, President Bio has suspended the Auditor General Just two weeks before she could submit her latest annual Audit Report to Parliament, which according to sources once again shows massive corruption by the government.
According to reports, Lara Taylor-Pearce (Photo) has been suspended indefinitely. The highly-respected career auditor who has headed the institution for 10 years, this evening told BBC Umaru Fofanah that she has “received a letter from the office of the president which among other things states that the Attorney General is to set up a tribunal to look into Audit Service Sierra Leone “for professional performance or the lack thereof”.
“Mrs Taylor-Pearce told me that she had not been told what the remit of the tribunal was or what wrongdoing she and one of her deputies (also suspended) had committed. She has been consistent in releasing hard-hitting audit reports about the handling of state resources by the former and present government,” Umaru Fofanah reported.
Most Sierra Leoneans commenting on this developing story believe that president Bio has acted unconstitutionally in suspending Lara Taylor-Pearce indefinitely.
This unconstitutional decision comes on the heels of Monday’s MCC Performance Scorecard for Sierra Leone which was personally handed to president Bio by the US ambassador to Sierra Leone, misguidedly heaping praise at president Bio’s government for respecting the rule of law.
According to Section 119 (9) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, the procedure for the removal of the Auditor-General must be same as that required for removal of a Judge of the Superior Court of Judicature, other than the Chief Justice, from office. This is what Section 137(4) says:
(4) Subject to the provisions of this section, a Judge of the Superior Court of Judicature may be removed from office only for inability to perform the functions of his office, whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or for statement misconduct, and shall not be so removed save in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(5) If the Judicial and Legal Service Commission represents to the President that the question of removing a Judge of the Superior Court of Judicature, other than the Chief Justice, under subsection (4) ought to be investigated then—
- the President, acting in consultation with the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, shall appoint a tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and two other members, all of whom shall be persons qualified to hold or have held office as a Justice of the Supreme Court; and
- the tribunal appointed under paragraph (a) shall enquire into the matter and report on the facts thereof and the findings thereon to the President and recommend to the President whether the Judge ought to be removed from office under subsection (7).
(6) Where the question of removing a Judge of the Superior Court of Judicature from office has been referred to a tribunal under subsection (5), the President may suspend the Judge from performing the functions of his office, and any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the President, and shall in any case cease to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the President that the Judge shall not be removed from office.
(7) A Judge of the Superior Court of Judicature shall be removed from office by the President—
- if the question of his removal from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (5) and the tribunal has recommended to the President that he ought to be removed from office; and
- if his removal has been approved by a two-thirds majority in Parliament.” (END)
It is clear from the above constitutional provisions that president Bio’s decision to send the Auditor General on indefinite suspension is unconstitutional and must be rescinded, as confidence by the international community in his government reaches all-time low.
Reactions to this crass decision have been swift. This is what the country’s journalists organisation – SLAJ said in their press statement: “The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) is concerned about the sudden indefinite suspension of the Auditor General of the Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL), Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce, and one of her deputies Mr. Tamba Momoh without any clear reason/s as to their suspension.
“While we respect the authority of His Excellency the President of the Republic to hire, suspend, and fire we are concerned that due process as laid out in the Constitution has not been followed. In addition, the public has a right to know the reason/s for this action by His Excellency to avoid widespread speculation and misinformation on the issue.
“SLAJ is also concerned about the issues of transparency and accountability in the use of public funds by the Government and its agencies, which the ASSL is charged under the national Constitution, and other legal instruments, to monitor and ensure proper financial and procurement procedures are followed.
“We are concerned that the action by His Excellency to suspend the Auditor General and her deputy may be regarded as a deliberate attempt to undermine the fight against corruption in public office, especially coming at a time when the Auditor General’s Report 2020 is about to be released.
“In the estimation of SLAJ, the ASSL has an unblemished track record of professionalism and integrity in the discharge of its duties, and we therefore urge the Government to treat the leadership of the institution with utmost respect.”
Parliamentary Leader of the National Grand Coalition Party (NGC) Dr Kandeh Yumkella said this on his tweeter feed:
Andrew Lavalie of Institute of Governance Reform said:
In 2015 President Bio praised Auditor General Lara Taylor-Pearce and her Audit Service Sierra Leone in a letter he wrote to the former president Koroma about the Report written by the Auditor General exposing the former government’s mismanagement of Ebola funds.
This is the letter published in the Sierra Leone Telegraph on 23 February 2015, showing president Bio’s dangerous double standards, and why he can no longer be trusted as president:
Dear Mr. President,
For the past week, I have been following with dismay the events at home, surrounding the publication of the Report of the Auditor-General on the Audit of the Management of the Ebola Funds, covering the period from May to October 2014.
Like many Sierra Leoneans, I am utterly disappointed that at a time when we should all be focussing on eradicating the terrible Ebola virus from our country and redirecting our resources to rebuilding the broken lives of our people, the international spotlight is once again on Sierra Leone and all for the wrong reason – the alleged mismanagement of the Ebola Funds.
Even more disheartening is the fact that amongst the countries worst hit by the disease, Sierra Leone is so far the only country where an audit report has emerged revealing such large-scale misappropriation and mismanagement of Ebola Funds.
Apart from this being a most serious indictment about the handling of the Ebola outbreak, the media both at home and abroad have generated so much adverse publicity that it is likely to undermine the country’s international reputation and development effort for a considerable time in the future.
According to the Audit Report, for the period from May to October 2014 alone, Government has expended in excess of Le 84 Billion from funds donated by various individuals, institutions as well as from tax revenues.
On 30 July 2014, in a public broadcast, you informed the nation of your decision to establish a Presidential Task Force on Ebola with you as Chairman, and that your Government was setting up a Special Account into which all donations would be deposited from all and sundry, including corporate entities, individuals and organisations, for the fight against the Ebola Disease
You gave the nation the complete assurance that this Special Account would be judiciously managed and applied under your direct authority. Following this assurance, huge donations from various sources went into that Account and some passed through your hands in the full glare of media publicity.
Mr. President, the Audit Report of this Special Account now alleges, inter alia, that the management and supervision of the Special Account by the Presidential Task Force has been either wholly insufficient or has fallen considerably below public expectation.
As a matter of fact, there appears to have been, as with similar Audit Reports associated with the ordinary Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in recent years, a systemic problem relating to the non-adherence of established procurement rules and procedures and inadequate control of disbursements of public funds.
Worse still, there is abundant evidence that points to the recommendations contained in previous Audit Reports of the CRF not being implemented at all or are completely ignored under the administration of your Government.
All of these, and more, palpably point to a failure of political leadership to the detriment of the good governance that our country so desperately needs.
Mr. President, your recent pronouncement that international organisations which also receive funds for the Ebola Virus Disease should be equally accountable, while commendable in principle, is unfortunately mis-timed, coming as it does when a damning Audit Report has unearthed a seemingly colossal mismanagement of Ebola funds donated to your Government.
Many might even construe this as nothing more than a puerile attempt to divert public attention from the serious allegations raised in the Audit Report of the Auditor-General presently under review.
It is my considered opinion that whilst we remain preoccupied with the serious task of ridding our country of the devastating Ebola virus, this principal commitment should remain undiluted in any way, and our gratitude should be unflinching to both countries and international organisations that have come to our aid.
In this regard, I would like to mention especially the Governments of the United Kingdom, United States, China, Cuba, Australia, Norway, Denmark, New Zealand, South Korea, Canada, Netherlands, Nigeria and the other member states of the African Union.
Mr. President, many of our citizens have also been shocked by the recent unfortunate utterances by the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament regarding his avowed exclusion of public discussion of the Auditor-General’s Report on the Ebola Funds.
His utterances, which are tantamount to a denial of the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in our National Constitution and should therefore be frowned upon by all, they simply have no place in our modern democracy.
Accordingly, I share fully the views expressed by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and the Sierra Leone Bar Association on the matter.
In light of the foregoing, may I respectfully implore you, Mr. President, to give urgent consideration to the recommendations of my Party, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), on the Audit Report aforesaid contained in its Press Release of 14 February 2015.
Furthermore, I would request that you consider the following:
- That the matter of the Auditor-General’s Audit Report on the Management of the Ebola Fund be made the subject of a thorough examination and scrutiny by a Special Judicial Commission headed by a Chairman, preferably a Senior Judge from the United Kingdom appointed by the British Government. This is vital for restoring both our national and international credibility especially in light of the adverse international publicity that the current Audit Report has engendered since its publication.
- That further remedial action by either Parliament or the ACC await the findings of the proposed Special Judicial Commission.
- That clear guidelines be set out for the management of the Ebola Funds to prevent any further mismanagement and misuse of these funds.
- That a further audit be carried out on the management of the Ebola Funds from November 2014 until Sierra Leone is declared by the WHO as free of the Ebola Virus.
- That, as recommended by the SLPP, all Audit Reports on the Ebola Funds be debated by the Whole House of Parliament before being sent to any Select Committee, where necessary.
- That all persons found culpable in regard to the misuse and misapplication of the Ebola Funds be held accountable
Mr. President, you are on record as having stated that the “Ebola money is Blood Money” and I totally agree with you on that.
This is why it is absolutely important that you take all measures necessary to bring all culprits to account, no matter who they may be.
With abiding respect,
Yours sincerely,
Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio
SLPP Presidential Candidate 2012; Currently Senior Research Fellow at the John & Elnoral Ferguson Centre for African Studies (JEFCAS), University of Bradford.
——–END——-
Responding to the suspension of the Auditor General this is what the main opposition APC leader in parliament – Chernor Ramadan Bah said:
Whiles the Sierra Leone Bar Association is yet to comment on this issue, the former President of the Sierra Leone Bar Association – Basita Michael said:
Oh Falay – et tu brute? Lol. You think you are putting me through baptism of fire on this noble forum do you? You got to be joking buddy. Lol. I may be new on this forum and thanks to Mr Abdul Rashid Thomas – one of the most patriotic Sierra Leoneans I have ever met, but let me tell you that I have been around the debating block a few times! Lol.
Please read my response to your fellow Paopa – Seth Brown and educate yourself about the content of the 2019 Auditor General Report. Have a good day now! Lol.
To those PAOPA sympathizers, perambulating this intellectual platform, spewing distasteful venom against an astute civil servant, Ms. Lara Taylor, who over a decade has proven her impeccable professionalism in executing her assigned mandate, please address the following questions.
George Lavalie, your assertion that while the president is working on cleaning up the image of the country, the Auditor General continues to work against him, by releasing damning corruption reports. Now tell me Mr. Lavalie, what necessitate the so called campaign to clean the country’s image the first place? Isn’t these same damning corruptions reports, released successively throughout the tenure of the previous administration that in your view portray our country in a bad light? Didn’t your PAOPA regiment weaponize these same audit reports to tarnish the image of the previous regime, castigating them as a MAFIA outfit? Exactly what has change Mr. Lavalie?
Now to Mr. Seneth Brown; if your PAOPA regime all along suspected the annual audit reports being flaw and misleading, why then did they use those reports as gospel truth in the GTT report formulated by professor Francis? Further more, are the annual audit reports not the basis of the concluded commission of Inquiry against the previous regime?
For over a decade now, we have the same leadership as an auditor general, releasing the same consistent damning reports, with evidential corrupt practices of politicians getting rich overnight all over the place. Time without number, folks like Mr. Lavalie, and Mr. Brown heap praising at the auditor general’s outstanding work while at the opposition. Now that their own personal interesting is being exposed, the hero has become the villain. Search your conscience folks, are you truth to yourselves? What moral compass do you have to pass to your kids, working against their own future if they are u fortunate to grow up in a nation like Sierra Leone? It’s absurd!!
We can argue about the truth the whole truth but nothing but the truth, the bottom line is Bio and the most taunted ACC Commissioner Mr Ben kiafala have failed the integrity test by miles apart. When it comes to fighting corruption and its effects in our country’s national development, the challenges remains the same. Now if we are to compare like for like, on the neutral corner is the Auditor General Mrs Lara Taylor, and on the Green corner, though he was supposed to be standing on the white corner, is ACC commissioner Ben Kalifala, but due to pressure from his personal trainer, Bio and on his instructions, he have now swapped places, there by avoiding any pretence of being independent in carrying out his work, we can see who is Bio’s favourite. Ben Kalifala have adopted the former American military doctrine “Don’t ask Don’t tell”. Or see no evil and hear no evil. The work of the Auditor General and the ACC Commissioners, looking at it from different angles might appears to be different, but to me the out come of what they want to achieve is the same. Bringing transparency and accountability to the way our public institutions works. In other words, one is looking at the ways governments spend our public monies which by law demands transparency and accountability. And in the absence of that, the ACC is called in to question the unquestionable, and demands answers,.
And where there are variances and are not forthcoming, recommend prosecutions of individuals public officials found wanting. It is time consuming and due diligence and being independent minded is the rocket boosters you need to arrive at the destination of truth and save our country from this cancer . And for Bio and some of his corrupt cronies, that is where you find them manning the barricades of conflicts of interest. So Mrs Taylor is their latest victim. When it comes to fighting corruption in our country, she was the last best hope we have in Sierra Leone. She has being fearless and independent minded. So in Bio’s world she didn’t stand a chance in trying to shine a light in some of the under the counter murky dealings of some of his government ministries.
I bet if Ben Kalifala have adopted the same no nonsense independent attitudes towards public officials, accused of corruption, he wouldn’t last more than five minutes in Bio’s orbit. He will be forced to jump out of the SLPP corruption space ship , only for someone to shout out to him, in his hurry to leave, or being pushed out into the atmosphere , he’d left his parasuite behind, and may the almighty grant him a safe landing, with few broken bones if he is so lucky. And that is the catch 22 dilemma Mr Kalifala found himself. So for him all his actions are carefully weigh up before he springs to action. On the other hand, Mrs Taylor don’t care on whoes toes she steps , as long as she is carrying out her duties truthfully without prejudices. APC /SLPP or Jesus she doesn’t care. She puts our country’s financial wellbeing and safety first before anything eles. What we witnessed here is the double standard behaviour of Bio and the way he handles the whole affair. That has been the hallmark of his government.A very bad precedent to set.I don’t like the outcome because it question my integrity. So we scrap everything and starts all over again. Giving enough time to his cronies to cover their dubious tracks. And I think is about time our international aid partners look at this case carefully. The rank hypocrisy of Bio in his pronouncement into fighting corruption is all over the place. Which side those he supports? The corrupted, or on the side of those fighting corruption?
Are the operations of the Bio administration a case of ‘the wheel of democracy at play’, Mr Seneth Brown? Tell me, what is so democratic about the arbitrary dismissal of the AG? Does mere suspicion warrant such high-handedness on the part of the executive branch of government? Is the civil service not meant to be above the political fray? So why drag it into the political game? It seems to me that your so-called legal (by implication justified) decision by the President to sack a long-serving civil servant of great repute is tantamount to seeking to politicise the civil service, to bending it in pursuit of narrow, self-serving political goals.
And assuming as you claim the previous Koroma administration acted no differently, does that justify the wrong that is being done to the AG? In fact, were her audit reports in the time of the Koroma government not equally critical in substance and tone? Did that government then proceed to sack her as a result? Also, what tangible, not to say concrete, evidence is there to show that the AG has been working hand in glove with the Africanist Press? Was that press not equally at daggers drawn with the Koroma administration?
Dismissing a public servant simply because she/he is too independent a professional for one’s comfort is the most undemocratic thing to do. It is an indefensible abuse and indeed corruption of political power: both a despicable and an unspeakable act of despotism. Indeed, for an executive authority to mobilise a country’s judicial apparatuses to lay siege to democratic accountability is an egrigious act as it makes a complete mockery of the principle of separation of powers in any democratic state worth that name. Mrs Lara Taylor-Pearce deserves our praise and admiration for her courage, integrity and incorruptibility. A great patriot she truly is. And shame on all those persecuting her.
It was rather unfortunate when the Auditor General recently published a. Fake sensational report that about 40 computers from NaCOVERC. were missing . She even double down by stating that a generator which was donated by the Chinese government was also missing. Personally, I started asking critical questions. With millions of dollars donations from the international community, why should the New Direction government only steal only computers and a generator? Luckily the People’s Commissioner Francis Ben Kaifaila debunked the report tactfully by confirming that nothing was missing. But unfortunately the intended damage was achieved to create the perception that the SLPP government during COVID-19 is as corrupt as the former APC government during the Ebola endemic.
As the saying goes”Fool me once shame on you, but to fool me twice is shame on me”
Good Riddance.
“Fallay can you please provide the evidence where the Auditor General “accused the New Direction government of embezzling $4 billion”? You” Lihadi Alhadi.
Mr Lihadi Alhadi did you read the last audit report? If you did you will see a portion where the AG put out her own calculations of timber export for a year. Her calculations was based on a faulty metric tons per timber, and not per container calculation that was used under Kabba and koroma government which was continued by the NRA. Her calculations came up with a figure of 5 billion dollars when leading timber exporting countries don’t even make that per year. Interesting that figure was published five months by the Africanist Press before the audit report. Subsequently documents published by the Africanist Press with press interpretation are documents presented by the government and MDAs to the AG at her request. If the government suspects that her agency is responsible to leaking out documents to a press, it breeds mistrust. The constitution gives the president the right to form a tribunal to look into the suspicion that the AG’s office has been providing documents to a third party outside the prescribe route to access to information. The current Chief Justice and two current supreme Court judges where suspended by the last government and made to appear before a tribunal when it was suspected that they leaked judicial decision to the press that was negative to the government.
Kofi Anan was a highly respected and effective UN secretary general. Nonetheless, he was subjected to UN dispute tribunal when he was accused of abuse authority. He was exonerated at the end.
The suspension of Mrs Lara Taylor Pearce and her deputy is legal and constitutional. Is it prudent for a political governing party a year or two to election? I think that the outcome of the tribunal she will be subjected to will determine how this play out.
Unfortunately, for many of us out there, we don’t want to see or hear about the wheel of democracy at display.
Seth, sorry if you cannot be bothered to check my name to make sure you get it right, how can I trust what you are telling us here. My name is Lihadi Alghali by the way. The point you are making about the differences of formula in accounting for the value of timber exported by the Bio government was neither here nor there.
The fact remains that the government was undervaluing the export of timber to make it look like they were export fewer timber. Thats nothing but daylight robbery by State officials supported by president Bio.
Please do not confuse my name for the Honourable member of parliament – Lihadi Alhadi.
Mr Brown, for completeness and clarity – take full note of what the Auditor General said in her 2019 report before you start misinforming yourself and others here: “Export Levy on Timber Revenue Valued in Line with Legislative Directives”.
“The method of valuation for timber products prior to exportation was not in accordance with Section 3 of the Finance (Amended) Act of 2018. Instead of using cubic meters as required by law, 20-feet shipping containers were used as unit of measurement. Based on the ASYCUDA data from the Customs Department, a total of 2,201,024.88 cubic meters valued at US$5.5billion was exported.
“Revenue of US$25.7 million was recorded in the GPFS, thereby leaving a difference of US$5.48 billion. According to the Ministry of Finance, the discrepancy is due to an error in the drafting of the Finance Act (Amended) of 2018, but the necessary correction will be done in the Finance Act of 2021.”
The Auditor General did not make up those figures buddy – you get it? It was not the Auditor that got it wrong – it was the thieving and corrupt Ministry of Finance who tried to cook the books and got found out by the Auditor General. The Auditor had simply used the exact formula set by the Ministry of Finance to calculate the $5.48 billion discrepancy she noted in her report. And quite rightly, the Ministry of Finance then responded with a statement saying that they “will make the necessary corrections”. Do ya leh we learn for talk true please.
A government that is serious about tackling corruption, must ensure that those indicated as responsible for irregularities are brought to justice. The ACC have done a good job at that. Evident in the MCC report.
Whilst the Bio regime has been fighting hard to clean up the country image, it has emerge from previous audits that the AG report continues to present backdated findings into her concurrent auditing reports. This is without much justification and clarity.
I’m sure her suspension is as a result of her not been able to separate the past from the present in her auditing. Gossip spreading that her office had also shared private and confidential materials with the Africanist press.
If truth be told she should have resigned or retired after serving 30yrs in an institution.
Why the wait?
There you go again – another slimy Green Paopo Misinformer crawling out of the woodwork to make this outlandiosh comment: “Whilst the Bio regime has been fighting hard to clean up the country image, it has emerge from previous audits that the AG report continues to present backdated findings into her concurrent auditing reports. This is without much justification and clarity.”
Mr Lavalie – you Green Guys need to do better than this naked lying propaganda here. Did you not know that it is the custom and practice of auditing that the auditor must always bring forward past recommendations that have not been acted upon or rectified, into the current reporting year? Those findings and recommendations from previous reporting periods will continue to be included in every subsequent reports until they are acted upon by the sitting government. Good Lord man – wake up! Lol.
This principle of auditing is nothing new and was not made up by Lara taylor-Pearce. She did the same when APC where in power – why are you Greengoes trying to intimidate her into changing standard auditing rules? Please tell your president and his cronies to stop stealing public funds – thats all we care about. Lol.
Lihadi Alghali, ,Welcome to this glorious forum. Since you have asked for the “evidence where the Auditor General accused the New Direction government of embezzling $4 billion “,my evidence is in the below link: https://www.thesierraleonetelegraph.com/breaking-news-sierra-leone-government-cannot-account-for-hundreds-of-billions-of-leones/. As a friendly advice, please try to Creep rather than jumping or running your mouth about “lying” on this glorious forum.. I even tried to be conservative with the amount because it’s even more embarrassing to state $5.5 billion based on the fact that the World Bank and IMF forecasted that our GDP was supposed to shrink due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Finally, let’s continue to respect institution like the MCC that based their conclusions on Facts and Data for countries around the world. The least they are asking for is to reduce Stealing and we can receive up to $ 400 million free money to develop our Nation. Good luck to our former Auditor General.
This is the first time in my experience that a civil servant (a top one for that matter) has been suspended by the head of state. From the moment I started school at age five, it was impressed upon me that a civil servant had to serve the government of the day professionally. And for as long the civil servant kept within this parameter he/she would remain a civil servant till retirement.
Maada Bio’s action in suspending Lara Taylor-Pearce and her deputy seems to be at odds with established norms, and may even be unconstitutional. Legal help is needed here for clarification for those of us that are not sure about the rules and regulations governing the civil service. The inclined thought is that Bio has acted beyond the limits of his authority ,whose basis is a warped mind, driven by a lame desire to stop something from becoming public knowledge.
Auditor-General Lara Taylor-Pearce, by all measures, including technical knowledge of her job, has been exemplary in her performance, otherwise she would not have kept her job for decades . Does Maada Bio even know what double-entry book-keeping mean to be in a position to trip the Auditor-General? The only convincing explanation which Bio could blurt out for his deranged action is that he wishes to replace Lara Taylor-Pearce with one of his yes men or women for him to execute his thievery without the slightest impediment
Political decisions are like gambling and when they go wrong can have an impact on governments and its people. Many have warned the President who is seen as lacking a good sense of judgement to ignore the arrogant ‘paopa’s’ calling for the replacement of the Auditor General who is seen as undermining the good works of the President. The AG position is one past governments have not interfered with for obvious reasons whether audit reports are adverse or not.
This President only wants to hear positive feedback and get jittery when its the other way. He has made it clear in interviews that he wants people in positions that fully support him and those that do not are shown the door. His globe trotting scamming adventures are all about repairing his battered image which is still tainted from his past. Fair minded sympathizers of the SLPP Government will not support this move which is highly controversial and risks making this government unpopular as we go in to the next election.
What do you expect from Bio and his government, whose modi operandi are shaped by deep-seated corruption and party-political self-indulgence grounded in ethnocentrism and regionalism? Mrs Lara Taylor-Pearce is deemed from on high to be an outsider and a show spoiler to boot and should as a result be silenced no matter how. Her arbitrary dismissal from her job spuriously and cowardly couched as indefinite suspension is a measure of the man running our country – a mendacious and ruthless ethno-regionalist who believes he is above the law and can get rid at will of anyone not disposed to serving the exclusive interests of the SLPP party and government and dance to the tune of the Mende hegemon he has created and has made his party embody.
Fallay can you please provide the evidence where the Auditor General “accused the New Direction government of embezzling $4 billion”? You Paopa guys are now so desperate to hang on to power that you are even telling blatant lies to impugn the hard won reputation of the Auditoir General when in real fact there is only one elephant in the room – and that is president Bio the biggest thief in town.
We are waiting to see the evidence you will provide of the Auditor General stating in her report that the Bio government embezzled $4 billion. .
Give credit where credit is due. Bio for all his bluster about being in the vanguard of fighting corruption, he himself admitted publicly that once we go down that route, corruption will fight back. Now if anything this was what he meant. Corruption by stealth. In suspending the Audit General Mrs Lara Pearce – Taylor, the only public officials that is nationally and internationally recognised as the leading light in the fight against the cancer of corruption in Sierra Leone, Bio by his unhinged actions have demonstrated to Sierra Leoneans and international creditors that he is not interested in fighting this scourge in our society. For nothing that Bio says now about his determination to fight corruption will cast him in favourable light, that this is the shinning Knight in armour galloping down the Freetown peninsula to save our country from the most tribalistic, corrupt cabal that we’ve ever elected as our head of state. Bio have no respect for our constitution.
I hope our international partners are watching, because what is at stake here, is Bio is trying to rewrite the rules and, undermine everything that Mrs Taylor have achieved in the last few years. Through her good work, she have opened the door and the eyes of the Sierra Leonean public to the murky behind the scenes dealings of how this corrupt Bio government have managed to steal public funds by the most dubious and opaque ways, that even the flood lights of truth will find it hard to penetrate. So is no coincidence that the Auditor General’s report due out in the next few weeks, was to be suppressed by whatever means available.
The aim here is, instead of talking about the audit report, we are now left talking about the auditors. And that was Bio’s game plan all along. Every thing was planned meticulously, so there is no room even to express a righteous indignation at the stupidity of his actions or the lack of. This was a premeditated attack on one of the most recognisable and respected public officials by Bio’s and his henchmen. And the looser is Sierra Leone.
It was pretty obvious that the past APC government was one of the most corrupt in the world, and even all credible institutions including the MCC recognized that fact. Mrs Lara Pierce was on point then to expose APC corruption.
Unfortunately, since she started collaborating with the APC propagandist Africanist Press, she has gone rogue based on the fact that she accused the New Direction government of embezzling $4 billion when even our Gross Domestic Products for that year was less than that. But it’s to early to tell the reasons why she has been fired, so let’s wait to hear from the government.
The indefinite suspension of the Auditor General, Lara Taylor Pearce by HE Bio is not surprising at all. What is the Bio government hiding from the public? Is the Paopa administration scared of the release of another damning and heart-wrenching audit reports which is due soon? What is it that you don’t want us to know?
Bio is setting records. He has removed all those who had guaranteed tenure of office. The only hope of Sierra Leoneans for transparency in the country has gone. But we are watching. The day of karma will come.
President Bio is a desperate man that will do anything to save his skin after stealing millions of dollars from the State. Now he wants to throw the Auditor General under the bus so that the 2020 Audit Report can be shelved. I saw the following comment somewhere and thought I should share:
“The 2020 AG’s Report is the worst since Lara became AG in 2011; and because she refused to water it down (even after asking her in-laws to intervene on behalf of government), she had to go” ….. a quote from a professional colleague in ASSL. The government would rather face SPECULATIVE SHAME than EVIDENTIAL SHAME. But what would the government do if Lara had already signed her 2020 Report? Abandon it? Burn it? Void it? Hide behind the suspension of Lara and say the report is incomplete and so cannot be laid in parliament? Salone in serious but comical times.”
We have an opposition party that only “opposes”, when Samura Kamara or Ernest Koroma are called by the ACC.
Concerning the auditor, there is many a south-easterner whose blood boils that a Creole should hold such a post. A Mende will soon be appointed to the position. This Bio fellow believes in tribalism, during his time in the N.P.R.C, when other members of the junta had a mix of people serving them from all the regions, his entire staff down to the last gardener, all his soldiers, administrators were Mende.
President Bio is obsessed with the two most powerful and hardworking women in Sierra Leone – Auditor General Lara Taylor-Pearce and Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr – both Creole. I wonder whats wrong with this man. Ethnic cleansing on my mind?