Financial records obtained by the
Africanist Press show how the Office of the Chief Minister of Sierra Leone spent over Le34.2 billion Leones (more than US$3.4 million) in less than three years despite the fact that President Maada Bio was elected into office under the guise of ending the corrupt practices of his predecessor.
This money was spent on travel per diems (expenses listed do not include airfares) and for procurement of goods and services that did not undergo an official competitive bidding process with open requests. The Chief Minister’s Office financial records indicate that several wire transfers of hundreds of millions of Leones were sent to foreign media agencies and technology companies in Europe, China, and the United States. These transfers were purportedly for consultancy services, public relations operations, and information technology products. None of these services or products were ever advertised or put on an open bid. Records of these large monetary
By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, Matthew Anderson, and Mark Feldman
Documents on the finances and expenditure details of the Office of the First Lady of Sierra Leone show clearly how Madam Fatima Jabbe Bio spent more than Le7.89 billion (over US$780,000) of public funds on personal shopping needs, and paying the travel costs and hotel accommodation expenses for foreign guests she invited to Sierra Leone to witness the launch of her flagship program, the
Hands Off Our Girls Campaign, launched in mid-December of 2018. Sierra Leone’s finance laws do not authorize the wife of a sitting president to directly receive or use any public funds to undertake a social activity or public campaign. In a video broadcast on Monday January 18, 2021, First Lady Fatima Bio admitted to receiving state funds, but she argued that the said public funds allocated to her organization were used for, what she described as, “the intended purpose.”
By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, Matthew Anderson, and Mark Feldman
Bank statements and other official documents on financial operations of the Government of Sierra Leone obtained by the
Africanist Press show precisely how the wife of the president of Sierra Leone, Madam Fatima Jabbe Bio received nearly Le30 billion Leones (almost US$3 million) of government funds in less than three years after the inauguration of her husband, Julius Maada Bio as president of the country in May 2018.
The records on the finances and expenditures of the First Lady’s Office, uncovered by the
Africanist Press, revealed that the organization’s operations received regular budgetary allocations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) and the Finance Ministry despite the fact that the organization is a non-state institution and, according to the country’s public finance regulations, is not authorized to use state funds in its activities.
The missing laptops: Separating fact from fiction
24 December 2020 at 23:20 |
By Vandy Kanyako, Portland, USA
The phrase âMissing laptopsâ is trending on Sierra Leone social media, for a good reason. Partly due to the robust intervention of the ACC, Pictures and video clips of boxes of laptops, with some of the content in pristine condition are making the rounds on whatsapp, facebook and other chat forums. The dramatic incident âhas caught the publicâs eyeâ, in the words of the Auditor-General in a just-concluded interview on AYV TV.
Laptops are all of a sudden at the heart of Sierra Leoneâs political discourse. As one would expect, the opposition is LAPPING it up and naysayers are having a field day with it.