By Alusine Sesay
The ministries of Finance, Transport and Aviation and the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources stand accused of undermining the work of Audit Service Sierra Leone for failing to produce documents in relation to the railway and port lease agreement for audit verification.
“The Audit Service holds no grief against Leone Rock. Our work is not based on hearsay but concrete evidence. We were not given those documents by the relevant ministries for verification and once we receive them we will definitely do the needful,” Acting Auditor General, Audit Service Sierra Leone, Abdul Aziz.
The Acting Auditor General explained to Concord Times the difficulties Audit Service is facing to secure documents from Ministries Departments and Agencies for audit verification, despite numerous reminders.
“We didn’t receive those evidences from the respective MDAs who directly dealt with Leone Rock,” he added.
Leone Rock Metal Group (LRMG) had written the Audit Service Sierra Leone, requesting that the institution verifies certain information about the company as published in the 2023 Audit Report and makes the necessary corrections to restore the company’s reputation.
In the letter dated 31st December, 2024 the company drew the attention of Audit Service to several statements regarding Kingho Railway and Port Company Ltd which they say contained material misrepresentations, and respectfully request Audit Service to rectify as a matter of urgency to establish correct status quo related to the compliance of Kingho Railway and Port Company Ltd.with the existing payment obligations to the State of Sierra Leone as well as the existence and validity of the ratified railway and port lease agreement signed between the Government of Sierra Leone and Kingho Railway and Port Company Ltd.
“We respectfully encourage you to make the requisite inquiries and confirmations with Parliament and the Minister of Finance to verify the aforementioned information. Once the issues raised were confirmed to correct your findings by the Minister of Finance and Parliament we would like to request a d e q u a t e public correction of the erroneous facts and the issuance of a statement to rectify reputational and potential economic damage caused to Kingho Railway and Port Company by the misrepresentations in the report. Our integrity is our highest priority and we are looking forward to further respectful solid cooperation,” the company demands.
The company cited the Executive Summary Subsection of the Public Accounts/ Non-Compliance with Clauses in Contract Agreements of the report which states erroneously “The Agreement between the Ministry of Mines and Kingho Railway and Port Company Ltd. was not ratified by Parliament, raising concerns over legality and enforceability of tax exemption granted to Kingho Railway totaling USD 5,275,434 through this Agreement.”
The company also cited in the letter an analogous erroneous reference made in Section 1.1 Subsection ‘Revenue/ Non-Compliance with Clauses in Contract Agreements’ of the report stating that “A lease agreement was signed between the Ministry of Mines and Kingho Railway and Port Company Ltd. There was no evidence that this agreement was ratified by Parliament, which contravened section 118(2) of the Constitution, and section 15 of the Public Debt Management Act, 2011. The absence of a parliamentary ratification raises concern over the legality and enforceability of tax exemptions totaling US$5,275,434 granted through this agreement.”
The company further cited an erroneous statement made in Section 1.2 Subsection ‘Other Matters/Non-Compliance with Clauses in Contract Agreements’ of the report which states: “We observed that the Minister of Mines signed the lease agreement between the Ministry of Mines and the Kingho Railway and Port Company Limited, instead of the Minister of Finance, in contravention of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016. In addition, there is no evidence that the agreement was ratified by Parliament. The absence of parliamentary ratification and signature of the Minister of Mines raises concerns about the legality and enforceability of tax exemptions totaling US$5,275,434 granted through this agreement.”
“We enclose to this letter the full copy of signed and ratified railway and port lease agreement concluded between the Government of Sierra Leone and Kingho Railway and Port Company Ltd, which clearly evidences that the lease was signed by the Minister of Finance as the first signatory and the Minister of Mines and Mineral Recourses has signed in addition to the Minister of Finance as the third signatory. The enclosed agreement states also that the Government of Sierra Leone is the contracting party and not the Minister of Mines as specified in the afore-mentioned report,” the company clarified.
The railway and port lease agreement was ratified on 9th November 2023 which was confirmed in the press release of Parliament published on the letterhead of Parliament on the official website of Parliament www.parliament.gov.sl.
“Therefore, our tax exemptions reflected in the report to be concerning because non-valid and illegal, remain valid, binding and enforceable like the lease agreement where they were stipulated. Kingho Railway and Port Company Ltd does not owe any afore-mentioned payment on the basis of the alleged invalidity of the railway and port lease agreement.
