The Auditor General Report has stated in its latest report that the Gento Group of Companies had received double payments for a road construction project which it was supposed to do in Waterloo.
According to the 2022 Audit Report, “from a review of the “Contract Agreement between the Gento Group of Companies and the Sierra Leone Road Authority and a signed Memorandum of Understanding valued at US$42,782,727, we observed that an amount totalling US$39,676,314 was paid to the contractor leaving a balance of US$3,106,413.”
“We however noted that there were certain discrepancies in the payment process. Based on the letter written by the Assistant Director–Fiscal Risk Management Division (FRMD) and a letter from the Chief Executive Officer of Gento Group, an Interim Payment Certificate (IPC 1A) valued at US$5,459,499.26 (SLE71,281,565) was issued in 2018 due to delayed payment of IPC 1 as prescribed in clause 60.10 of the contract agreement. We however observed that, the Road Maintenance Fund Administration had already made payment for IPC 1 in 2016,” the report discloses, adding: “Furthermore, there were no certified arrears (outstanding IPC) regarding this contract, as confirmed by the ASSL’s final verification report on domestic debt 2018. Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs 5) totalling US$13,524,419.34 were claims for loss and damages for the project’s suspension.”
The report furthers that “there was however no evidence of any instruction from the engineer to suspend the work in progress, which contradicts Clause 40.1 of the contract agreement.”
It also states that “the ASSL or the Internal Audit Department of the Ministry of Finance did not verify this claim, which is the usual practice for such claims. The amount paid was US$13,478,570 in 2022, leaving a balance of US$45,849.”
