Sierra Leone News: Govt. contractors need to be vetted


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Sierra Leone News: Govt. contractors need to be vetted

Michala Mackay

Michala Mackay












The Chief Executive Officer and Registrar, Michala Mackay of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has called on the Ministry of Finance to vet companies bidding for government contracts, whilst presenting their 2018 budget.
She said that the issue of contracts is a big challenge. “Government entities are giving contracts to companies and not crosschecking their status with us; whether they are compliant or not. Some of them will have a share capital of like Le10 million and are given contracts worth billions of Leones.
The CAC, she said, will be liaising with authorities to see how they can ensure that part of the procurement process will be. “If a contract is being offered above a certain quantum, it has to be given to a company, because companies are bound by law to follow certain procedures. Companies must submit their audited financial statements so at least MDAs will be in a better position to know that they are giving it to people who are capable of implementing.”
She went on to say that, they inherited over 10,000 names in the register, and half of them are non-functional. “So we now know we have over 2,000 companies that are viable and are contributing to the economy and when it comes to taxes you know who to tax,” she said.
Matthew Dingie, Director of Budget, appreciated their intervention on the area of due diligence, as he said he has been pushing for it in their Ministry on the award of contracts. “We would like the procurement authority to check the ability or balance sheets of these companies or businesses that bid on government contracts. The law makes provision for due diligence. It is a matter of for us to put in policies that will force MDAs to follow those policies,” said Dingie.
Businesses are given contracts worth millions of dollars and they (MDAs) don’t even see their audited account or capital base. Maybe they are run by one person and you don’t know their liquidity in the bank.”
Mackay said that coordination with two related institutions is a challenge. She said that the Administrator General Office is still holding on to company files. “If those files are not with us, we cannot offer services to those companies and as far as we are concerned they are non-existent.”
She said, the Ministry of Information and Communication needs to pass two important laws; the Electronics Transaction and Cyber Security Acts. “If not, it is going to hinder our efforts to continue to push electronic processes, because if you say to somebody pay via credit card, who is going to attest to the security of the use of those cards if we do not have the legal regulatory framework to support it.”
ZJ/26/8/17
By Zainab Joaque
Monday August 28, 2017.

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