Ambassador Bokarie Stevens in Fresh Scandal: Defrauding Sierra Leoneans

By S. U. Thoronka

According to the Accountant General’s report on the accounts of Sierra Leone for the year ended 2014, it is alleged that there was inadequate control over the collection and accounting for revenue in the Sierra Leone Embassy-Washington DC (2011-2013).
The report reveals that visa stickers were not available in the Embassy; instead, rubber stamps were used for visas, and that accountable documents such as emergency travelling certificates were printed locally in USA, and receipts books purchased at stationery shops.
According to the auditors, the Embassy had sent frequent requests to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC) for the replenishing of visa sticker books, receipt books and other accountable documents. It was further revealed that the MOFAIC had informed the Embassy that the Immigration Department was in short supply of the aforementioned items and that replenishment would be made as soon as they were available.
A review of the visa stickers’ monthly cashbook by the auditor revealed that a total of US$2,442,245 was collected as revenue. It was also observed that revenues collected for the period under review were used for normal transactions of the Embassy, with few exceptions in which an amount of $225,000 was transferred to the CRF and specific instructions were received from Freetown for the use of Consular Funds.
According to the auditor, in the early part of 2014, reconciliations were done with the front register to ascertain the total revenue collected, and that receipts were also issued at the front office for all transactions; the register maintained was also said to have been signed off by the financial attaché to verify total cash received. This, according to the report was in reaction to a circular issued relating to the streamlining of visa applications on the 19th of March 2014, adding that this practice has been discontinued during the year.
The report further stated that the auditor had problems reconciling the front office register, (which according to the report should capture all consular transactions) and the cashbook maintained by the various officers assigned to carry out consular officer’s roles. It was revealed that the register of transactions was inconsistent in the sense that it was difficult to identify daily takings in the cashbook. The audit exercise applied various tests according to the report in a bid to ascertain the effectiveness of revenue controls and it was revealed that controls were weak. As a result figures recorded in the cashbook could not be relied upon.