By Bright Will
For what has generally been described as Contempt of Parliament caused by the recent ICASL Statement, MPs may soon endorse the removal of Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce, the suspended auditor-general who was recently investigated and found guilty by a constitutionally established Tribunal on a range of professional improprieties.
Following widespread reports of professional misconducts by Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and her deputy Mr. Tamba Momoh about two years ago, a tribunal was set up by government to investigate the said misconducts. After months of investigations and fair hearings, the Tribunal, constituted by high-profile and reputable legal experts, found the two guilty as accused and recommended for their dismissal from Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL).
Following due process, the matter was sent to Parliament to finalize the process as dictated by the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone. The matter is still before the country’s lawmaking body.
While the nation awaits the decision of Parliament on the matter, some persons within the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone (ICASL), in a quest to unprocedurally defend two of their disgraced members, issued an empty emotion-driven review paper asserting that both Taylor-Pearce and Tamba Momoh are innocent within bringing forward a single evidence to challenge the fact-driven report of the Tribunal.
Reliable sources within Parliament has said the stance of the ICASL that the former auditor-general is innocent, when they [Parliament] is yet to decide on the issue, is an affront to the integrity and dignity of Parliament, which in their opinion constitutes contempt.
“Those who are behind this purported ICASL review of the Tribunal report seem to have no respect for Parliament. The issue is before us and we are yet to decide on it. Why the mad rush? This is tantamount to contempt of Parliament. This just exposes the biasness of the ICASL on the matter. I have spoken to some members of the said body and I will tell you for sure that many senior members have dissociated themselves from such unprofessional display and disrespect of the legislature of the republic,” a vocal lawmaker told this medium.
Interestingly, a good number of opposition parliamentarians are also not happy with the move by the ICASL.
“Politics aside, Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce misperformed. The suspended auditor-general was given all the space and fairness to defend herself. She also had legal representatives. I have so much respect for the judges and other legal experts who constituted that Tribunal. The best thing to do is to leave the matter for us to decide. Yes, I am an opposition All People’s Congress lawmaker, but if we are to vote on this issue, I will choose due process rather than party. Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and her ICASL had jumped the line and must be called to order,” said an APC parliamentarian known for his stance in putting national interest above party’s.
Also, for acting unprofessionally and maliciously, the Government of Sierra Leone may suspend subvention to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone.
According to reliable sources at State House and the Ministry of Finance, the suspension of the subvention to ICASL is crucial as the current leadership of ICASL seems to be more determined in politicizing the entity and go to the extent of disrespecting the authority of Parliament and a constitutionally established Tribunal.
ICASL is expected to be a professional body of chartered accountants that upholds integrity and due process. However, the recent move by the entity in defending the professional misconduct of the former auditor general is something many see as unthinkable and moral-less.
The fact reminds that a constitutionally established Tribunal with reputably experienced judges investigated and found Mrs. Taylor-Pearce guilty as charged.
Also, close workmates of the suspended and indicted auditor-general testified on oath, bringing out, with evidence, the professional misconducts of their former boss.
Thus, a good number of high-profile professionals at Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) and top private auditing firms who are also members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone have expressed utter dismay at the decision of a small number of emotionally-driven persons within the ICASL to defend what they are supposed to join government in condemning.
It would be recalled that in its press statement dated 28th October 2024, the ICASL claimed to have set up a committee to ascertain whether there were any breaches of professional and ethical standards and whether the actions of Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Tamba Momoh were consistent with the ICASL Code of Ethics, International Standards on Auditing (ISA), International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI), the Constitution of Sierra Leone and the Audit Service Act 2014.
It added that, after what it called ‘extensive review of the Tribunal report’, it found out that former auditor general and her deputy acted in the best interest of the public, upheld professional standards and adhered to international auditing standards and guidelines, noting that there were no instances of professional misconduct or ethical breaches as outlined.
The recent move of the ICASL to defend Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Momoh has been described by many as not only weak but very unprofessional on the basis that the Tribunal was legally constituted following enshrined processes and procedures throughout the hearing. Also, Mrs. Taylor-Pearce and Mr. Momoh together with their legal representatives were given adequate time and space to counter the allegations. Moreover, the report of the Tribunal was based on factual and circumstantial evidence tendered with testimonies of staff who were working with the two former bosses of the country’s auditing agency.
The ICASL is expected to have shown the methodology it used to arrive at such conclusion and the facts therein and not just reduce the whole thing to empty emotional empathy for two of their colleague chartered accountants who acted unprofessionally by preventing auditors from investigating certain people in governance, among other things. Does ICASL really care about professionalism and integrity?
Parliament is also expected to be very decisive on the disrespect splash at its face by some unprofessional persons who claim to be representing the ICASL by projecting their selfish interest.
