By Jariatu S. Bangura
The Public Accounts Committee has uncovered irregularities in the Ministry of Health, revealing that Le42,000 was paid to five unidentified enumerators by a staff member from the Directorate of Policy, Public, and Information.
The committee has demanded that the said amount be refunded to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Each of the five enumerators received Le8,400, despite not being part of the officially approved list. According to the committee, procedural rules were violated in their selection.
Nathaniel Suluku, a staff member in the Directorate of Policy, Public, and Information, admitted to increasing the number of enumerators from 18 to 23 without informing his superiors, but the addition of five enumerators went against the original request made for the recruitment process.
Hon. Tawa, chairing the committee, stated that Suluku failed to submit a proper memo to his boss regarding the addition of the five enumerators. Consequently, the committee ruled that Suluku must refund the Le42,000 paid to the unauthorized individuals.
“For failing to notify his boss about adding extra enumerators to the initial list, Suluku will be required to refund the Le42,000 paid to those individuals,” Hon. Tawa emphasized.
Hon. Tawa stressed the importance of following proper procedures, noting that informing a superior would have been a simple and transparent step. “Even if the workload was overwhelming, adding five extra people without approval raises concerns. It appears Suluku may have intended to misuse the funds. If he wanted to add those five individuals, he should have sought approval from his superiors since the funds were available,” Hon. Tawa remarked.
