Following an audit into the financial activities of the National Covid-19 Emergency Response Center (NaCOVERC) for the 2022 fiscal year, the Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) has uncovered a discrepancy between information in NaCOVERC's travel portal and the records of the Immigration Department. A review of inbound and outbound passengers recorded at Lungi International Airport between January and July 2022 revealed that 52,708 and 76,875 passengers, respectively, had traveled during the year under review.
However, after deducting the number of passengers under certain categories, such as children under five and others exempted, 640 passengers were found to be missing from the travel portal. As a result, 18,635 and 68,283 inbound and outbound passengers, respectively, were found to have not paid lab testing fees, resulting in an estimated revenue loss of Le5.05 billion (Le5,047,700,000), excluding exemptions.
ASSL noted a difference between the number of passengers recorded in the travel portal and the records of the Immigration Department, which resulted in a revenue difference of Le5.5 billion (Le5,482,050,000). The Financial Statements reported revenue from lab testing fees of Le44.6 billion (Le44,565,650,000).
Furthermore, DICOVERCS held Le587,656,753 in credited bank account balances, while Le50,657,489 was reported as overdrawn bank account balances. Although a memo was sent to the District Coordinators on 11th November 2022 for the closure of their operating bank accounts, NaCOVERC did not provide evidence of the bank accounts' closure to the audit team.