- Deputy Speaker of Parliament
October 29, 2015 By Ibrahim Tarawallie
Deputy Speaker of Parliament has acknowledged that the judicious use of the country’s resources can ensure better public service delivery, particularly in the areas of health, education and transportation, as well as in the provision of amenities like safe drinking water and sustainable electricity.
Hon. Chernor Maju Bah was speaking yesterday at the Hill Valley Hotel in Freetown during the certification ceremony of 75 public sector auditors after successfully completing a five weeks intensive specialised audit training in revenue, environment, procurement, information technology and forensic audits, at the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM), University of Sierra Leone.
He said accountability in dealing with public resources has a myriad of multiplier effects that can only positively impact the lives of ordinary people, adding that ensuring accountability, particularly in public life, carries with it enormous challenges.
“You the beneficiaries of this training are the guarantors of the accountability that will ensure a positive transformation of the lives of particularly the ordinary Sierra Leonean,” said the Deputy Speaker. “This training should not be seen as a means of amassing qualifications but as a tool that can be positively used to ensure probity in our public life.”
Hon. Bah, who doubles as Chairman of the Public Account Committee in Parliament, reminded beneficiaries of their sacred responsibility to use the tools they have acquired effectively to ensure probity in public life that would guarantee transformation.
He commended the Auditor General of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Lara Taylor-Pearce and her team for demonstrating great insight in their choice of the courses taught during the training, as “nothing could be more relevant in enhancing the capacity of the anti-graft frontline fighters than the training they have just completed”.
The lawmaker ended up by stressing the need for those in the forefront of the accountability fight to be properly equipped to confront the obstacles that fraught the road to the realisation of such objective.
In her remarks, Auditor General Lara Taylor-Pearce emphasised that specialised audit trainings would contribute significantly to the government’s drive to improve the public financial management framework in Sierra Leone.
She recalled that a little over five weeks ago, they came together to launch the commencement of a training program in revenue, environment, procurement, IT and forensic audits.
“Today we are here to celebrate the completion of the trainings and present certificates to the participants,” she noted. “We are grateful to all those who worked relentlessly to make this happen within estimated time and prescribed budget.”
She noted that the trainings were very well received as evidenced from the positive evaluation reports submitted by participants at the end of every session, and that they now have more trained professionals in diverse audit disciplines.