Leaking National Purse: Over NLe 1.3 Billion Still Missing
By Mohamed Konneh
A new report released by the Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) on Tuesday 27th October 2026 reveals some disturbing missing Leones amounting to NLe 1.3 Billion. With funding from the Christian Aid, the Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) briefed the media on its latest finding at it Hill Station Office on Tuesday in Freetown.
Of the 133 audit queries raised against ministries, agencies and public enterprises in the 2023 audit, 43 are still unresolved. Another 12 are only partly resolved. Of those, 34 are about revenue. Not missing receipts. Not overspending. Money that should have come into Sierra Leone, but didn’t.
BAN National Coordinator, Abu Bakarr Kamara while briefing the media said in February 2026, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee managed to recover NLe 12.0 million.
Kamara said that was a good start but it is a drop in the ocean compared to what is still outside.
‘’This is the story of that ocean. For every Leone to reach the national purse — the Consolidated Fund that pays for schools, clinics, roads and salaries — it must travel a short route: a citizen or business pays; a ministry, agency or court collects; it passes through a transit bank or NRA account; and it lands in the Treasury,’’ he said.
Kamara said in 2023, PAC found that money leaked at every stage of that journey.
‘’The hotel didn’t pay rent and that telecom operator didn’t pay its licence. The tractor operator didn’t pay his lease. Collected, Not Banked. A court charged you a fee, but the money cannot be traced. Land sale money is sitting in a transit bank. Deducted, Not Paid Over. This is the most common. A government agency deducts PAYE from its workers, withholds tax from its suppliers — and keeps it,’’ he said.
On Guma Valley Water Company, the Airports Authority, Civil Aviation Authority, NaCSA and even the World Bank-funded Free Education Project all fall in this group.
He said several institutions said they simply used the money for other things because they were short of funds.
‘’NLe 114.7 million in tax owed and NLe 170.5 million in contract income were left out of the national accounts entirely. The country’s books therefore understate what it is owed. The ten biggest open bills alone dwarf what was recovered. EDSA is owed NLe 938.9 million in unpaid electricity bills by customers. While EDSA cannot collect, it cannot pay EGTC for power generation. NLe 170.5 million in contract income, including from the Zoodlabs contract, was never paid into the Consolidated Fund,’’ the BAN Coordinator said.
The report also discovered that NASSIT lent NLe 140.9 million to related companies through debentures, but there is no record of NLe 161.9 million in interest that should have been paid. Another NLe 114.7 million in tax owed was left out of the national accounts. NatCA is owed NLe 45.7 million by telecom operators — 209 invoices, with over 90 percent of operators operating without paying.
The Ministry of Agriculture is owed NLe 32.3 million for 409 tractors and power tillers, EBK University NLe 31.3 million in student fees with missing records, Civil Aviation NLe 28.8 million in revenue share held back by NRA, and Guma Valley NLe 18.8 million in PAYE and withholding tax it deducted but did not remit.
At Cape Sierra and Hilltop Hotels, government owns the properties and leases them to private operators. For ten years, the Ministry of Tourism did not check if rent was paid. US$804,000 is owed, with Hilltop alone owing US$600,000 on a 25-year lease granted when rules allow only ten years, without Parliamentary approval.
In 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture handed 279 tractors and 130 power tillers to 14 private businesses on lease payable twice a year. None has paid. The performance bonds that should have covered the NLe 32.3 million debt cannot be found.
China donated 1,114 tonnes of rice worth US$1.4 million for school feeding. The Ministry sold it to service providers instead. NLe 6.98 million is still owed by the main buyer, 152 bags are unaccounted for, and a waiver was granted by the Ministry of Finance that only Parliament can give. PAC has referred it to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
At the Ministry of Lands, NLe 33.1 million was reported from land sales, but banks that collect show NLe 50.6 million — a gap of NLe 17.5 million. No valuation reports exist, so land may have been sold cheap.
Guma Valley deducted NLe 17.2 million PAYE and NLe 1.6 million withholding tax, but did not pay NRA. Its excuse: government itself owes Guma NLe 24.9 million in unpaid water bills. It now pays NLe 50,000 a month — at that rate, clearing the debt will take almost three years.
Even the courts overcharged. The Judiciary charged fees above the Finance Act 2021, and NLe 69,559 remains untraced. PAC gave directions — pay, reconcile, produce documents. But PAC has no police. It has only its report.
The report noted that these 34 revenue issues are the ones most likely to be forgotten, because unlike a missing voucher, there is no one inside the institution with a reason to chase them.
