The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament of Sierra Leone on Monday, 17th August 2026, engaged the Kenema City and Kenema District Councils at the Kenema District Council’s Hall over audit queries contained in the Auditor General’s Report for the financial year 2024.
During the engagements with the Kenema City Council, the Committee examined issues including budgetary grants from central government that were not fully received, the council’s performance in mobilising own-source revenue, limited evidence of community participation and awareness in the budgetary process, the effectiveness of internal audit units and audit committees, and compliance with contractual terms.
The Committee also questioned the effectiveness of the Council’s Internal Auditor and sought clarification on outstanding issues in the audit report and the council’s data management system. Auditors from the Audit Service explained that some issues have been consolidated to avoid lengthy presentations. The Committee recommended that relevant schedules be attached to future submissions to the PAC for ease of reference.
On building construction-related queries, the Committee recommended that the Auditor General’s Office should conduct a physical verification of the projects.
The Committee subsequently engaged the Kenema District Council, where similar issues were reviewed, including the audit opinion on local councils’ financial statements, delays in receiving budgetary grants from central government, own-source revenue mobilisation, and the lack of sufficient evidence of community participation in the budgetary process.
The PAC called for timely disbursement of budgetary allocations to local councils, noting that delays in transferring funds have repeatedly featured in audit queries across councils.
The Committee, however, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Kenema District Council and noted that several audit queries raised against the council have been adequately addressed and resolved.
The engagement forms part of the PAC’s ongoing oversight of local councils and its efforts to ensure accountability, prudent financial management and improved revenue mobilisation in Sierra Leone.