The Acting Auditor General, Mr Abdul Aziz held a meeting with the technical female staff of the Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) encouraging them to be committed to their jobs and take advantage of emerging opportunities relating to the audit work.

He made this disclosure during a meeting with female technical staff on Friday 17^th February, 2023 on the 12^th floor of the Freetown City Building. During the meeting, all the female technical staff were given the opportunity to give updates on their personal developments within the ASSL and their academic work.

The Acting Auditor General was impressed with the updates and achievements of the female staff which shows lots of career development amongst them. He however, encouraged them to empower themselves and pursue more courses that will benefit them and the office. He pointed out that there are so many opportunities for ladies adding that the issue of women is always prioritised in most of the meetings he is part of.

The Acting Auditor General informed them that in addition to the three Es of Economy, Efficiency, and Effectiveness, two more have been added which are Equity and Environment. “I am ready to ensure that the female staff benefit from equity and inclusiveness in the office.” Said Mr Abdul Aziz. He also stressed that with the other E dealing with Environment, the ASSL will be undertaking a series of environmental audits this year adding that all environmental audits will require at least one female staff as part of each team.

Ivannete Adeniran, Principal Auditor of the Performance Audit division commended the Acting Auditor-General for his exemplary leadership as head of the institution. She promised him that the female staff will work very hard and be part of the success stories of the ASSL

Another female staff, Memunatu Tucker encouraged her colleagues to be committed to their work so that they will benefit from the inclusive plans of the office. ”This is not just a word of mouth but rather a practical one as some of us have benefited from it” said Memunatu Tucker

The Audit Service Sierra Leone has held a citizen engagement session with Civil Society Organisations and the media to chat the successes, challenges and map out the way forward for the institution in the coming years.

The engagement session took place at the Sierra Bay Hotel, Aberdeen in Freetown on Monday, 21^st November, 2022.

Addressing the session, the Acting Auditor-General, Mr. Abdul Aziz said the idea of engaging the CSOs and other stakeholders is not new to the ASSL, adding that over the years, the ASSL has actively engaged various stakeholders in Freetown and the regions on the activities of the institution. The Acting Auditor-General stressed that this is in recognition of the fact that Supreme Audit Institutions cannot act alone and must be supported by other stakeholders. “This prompted the ASSL to adopt mechanisms that call for support and collaboration with stakeholders”, he noted. Mr. Aziz commended the CSOs and the media for being a source of support to the ASSL whenever they are called upon.

Chairman of the programme, Mr. Abubakarr Kamara, National Coordinator of Budget Advocacy Network commended the ASSL for giving CSOs the opportunity to contribute to the work of the institution. He encouraged CSOs to bring out issues that will help the ASSL to improve on their work. He pointed out that CSOs should highlight what the ASSL is doing well, what they are not doing well and what can be done to improve on their work.

A detailed explanation of the Audit Process was done by the Deputy Auditor-General, Mr. Selvin Bell who spoke on how the audit process commences in the ASSL from the planning stage to the submission of the report to parliament.

The Communication Officer, Mr. Martin Sandy presented a detailed explanation on how the ASSL has been engaging stakeholders including the Public Accounts Committee, Tertiary Institutions,  Ataya Bases, Schools through outreach programmes, public lectures, radio discussion programme and town hall meetings.
During the programme, the stakeholders spoke on a wide range of issues in areas the ASSL is doing well, and where improvement is needed. They also suggested possible areas that the ASSL should concentrate during next year’s audit.

The Audit Service Sierra Leone has held a citizen engagement session with Civil Society Organisations and the media to chat the successes, challenges and map out the way forward for the institution in the coming years.

The engagement session took place at the Sierra Bay Hotel, Aberdeen in Freetown on Monday, 21^st November, 2022.

Addressing the session, the Acting Auditor-General, Mr. Abdul Aziz said the idea of engaging the CSOs and other stakeholders is not new to the ASSL, adding that over the years, the ASSL has actively engaged various stakeholders in Freetown and the regions on the activities of the institution. The Acting Auditor-General stressed that this is in recognition of the fact that Supreme Audit Institutions cannot act alone and must be supported by other stakeholders. “This prompted the ASSL to adopt mechanisms that call for support and collaboration with stakeholders”, he noted. Mr. Aziz commended the CSOs and the media for being a source of support to the ASSL whenever they are called upon.

Chairman of the programme, Mr. Abubakarr Kamara, National Coordinator of Budget Advocacy Network commended the ASSL for giving CSOs the opportunity to contribute to the work of the institution. He encouraged CSOs to bring out issues that will help the ASSL to improve on their work. He pointed out that CSOs should highlight what the ASSL is doing well, what they are not doing well and what can be done to improve on their work.

A detailed explanation of the Audit Process was done by the Deputy Auditor-General, Mr. Selvin Bell who spoke on how the audit process commences in the ASSL from the planning stage to the submission of the report to parliament.

The Communication Officer, Mr. Martin Sandy presented a detailed explanation on how the ASSL has been engaging stakeholders including the Public Accounts Committee, Tertiary Institutions, Ataya Bases, Schools through outreach programmes, public lectures, radio discussion programme and town hall meetings.
During the programme, the stakeholders spoke on a wide range of issues in areas the ASSL is doing well, and where improvement is needed. They also suggested possible areas that the ASSL should concentrate during the following year’s audit.

The Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) held breakfast meetings with key Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) at their office headquarters on the 12th Floor of the Freetown City Council Building, Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown. The meeting was to get updates from them regarding the implementation of the audit recommendations in the 2021 Auditor-General’s Annual Report and the roadmap for the 2022 audit which was set to commence in January

On Tuesday 10th January 2023, the ASSL hosted the Accountant General’s Department, the Sierra Leone Police and the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education, while on Wednesday 11th January, they met with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The Acting Auditor General, Mr Abdul Aziz expressed satisfaction over the collaboration the ASSL has been getting from the auditees and encouraged them to continue in the same drive. He encouraged the MDAs to cooperate with the auditors during the audits and ensure that the audit queries are addressed during the time of the audits.

The Audit Service team expressed concern over the repeated queries in the audit report, especially when some of them are control issues that ought to have been cleared during the audit field work. The ASSL has decided to conduct most of the audits between January and May this year. The ASSL team also informed them that this year’s audit will not only concentrate on financial records and documents but will also focus on service delivery which has a great impact on the citizens. The auditors will also sit with the clients in drafting the recommendations in line with the standard operating procedures.

The MDAs commended the ASSL for inviting them to the breakfast meeting and promised to liaise with other MDAs to immediately develop a strategy in ensuring actions are taken on the implementation of the recommendations.

The MDA officials promised to implement the recommendations in the Auditor-General’s Report and to fully cooperate with the auditors during this year’s audit.