Finance Department

Overview on the Finance Department

Parliament Finance Department is responsible for the Institution’s finance functions and include financial control and financial planning. It is headed by a Finance Director who is responsible for the Department’s strategic financial function and deputised by a Deputy Director of Finance. Currently, the Department’s staff compliment is around eleven (11) as tabled below:

The Director of Finance supervises the activities of the finance department and reports to the Deputy Clerk of Parliament for the attention of the Clerk of Parliament

Vision Statement for the Department
To provide financial advices that have the flexibility to adapt to changes in political situations while integrating the changes required within a solid and well-structured financial processes.

Mission of the Department
The provision of top quality financial information to Parliament’s stakeholders in meeting the requirement for increased flexibility as key challenge imposed by both external and internal factors.

Mandate of the Department
Part VII of the Public Financial Management Act of 2016 of the Constitution of Sierra Leone Act No. 6 of 1991, and the Parliamentary Service Act of 2007 require the Parliamentary Service to record and keep books of Accounts and to prepare Financial Statements for each financial year which should show a true and fair view of the position of the Parliamentary Service and of its result (surplus or deficit) for that year. In line with this provision, the department thus has the responsibility of

• Selecting suitable Accounting Policies and apply them consistently;
• Making judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
• Stating whether applicable Accounting Policies have been followed, subject to any material departure disclosed and explained in the Financial Statements;
• Preparing the Financial Statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Parliamentary Service Commission will continue its activities.

Functions and/or Activities of the Department
Like other Government Institutions, the Parliamentary Service is headed by the Clerk of Parliament, as Head of Administration. As Head of Administration and Vote Controller, the Clerk of Parliament reports all activities including those that have financial implication of the Parliamentary Service to the Commission. The Head of the Commission is the Speaker of the House of SL Parliament and as such the Political Head Parliamentary Service Commission.

The financial management and regulatory process is concerned with Financial Control and Financial Planning. The control aspect of Financial Management and Regulatory Process is the responsibility of the Clerk of Parliament, who monitors the disbursements of funds. These funds are received from the Consolidated Funds by way of quarterly requests for them from the Ministry of Finance.

The process of receiving and disbursement is such that when allocations are out, the Finance Department of Parliament forwards all necessary documentations regarding sourcing of funds allocated for Parliament activities. Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS) Forms I and II are prepared for the attention of all concerned in terms of Authorisation and Approval to be forwarded to the Ministry of Finance. If the Ministry of Finance is satisfied with the request submitted, they will now ask the Accountant General, who is responsible to disburse funds to various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to take appropriate action. Upon receipts of funds, the Finance Department alerts the Secretary of the Budget Committee of Parliament Administration. The Secretary of the Budget Committee will call for a meeting to discuss a disbursement plan. It is at that meeting, Chaired by the Clerk of Parliament, as Chairman of the Budget Committee, that issues relating to settlement of obligations and meeting other financial matters are discussed. Once a consensus is reached, the Finance Department will now make settlement of approved obligations. These settlements however also have to go through the Authorisation and Approval process that ensures value for money.

It is important to also note that, as part of its Financial Planning requirement, the Parliamentary Service prepares annual budget for submission to the Ministry of Finance for budget scrutiny. The process is such that before final budget is sent, the Finance Department of Parliament has the responsibility to ensure that only activity and ‘right’ based budget is sent. This is usually done by way of asking all functional areas of Parliament to submit their annual activities for the coming year. These activities are then scrutinised and cost attached to them. The figures obtained, including supporting activities, are forwarded to the Ministry of Finance. Their responsibility as a Ministry is to also ensure that only activity and ‘right’ based estimates are approved. The approved estimates are the ones considered when making allocations in the year of implementation.

Services offered to Members of Parliament and Staff
As Members of Parliament (MPs) are connected stakeholders of Parliament as the Legislative Arm of the Government of Sierra Leone, the Finance Department has the responsibility for providing financial information that has impact on their ability to represent their electorate well. The Finance Department therefore ensures that MPs are well informed about their emoluments and other facilities thereof. These among others include:

• Monthly emoluments, including their statutory obligations
  • [National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NaSSIT)] contributions and
  • Pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) deductions from their respective income;
• Annual Constituency Funds (Development/Facilitation);
• Monthly Sitting Fees;
• Annual Rent;
• Travelling Facilities;
• Gratuity and Pension.

Members of Staff of Parliament provide support to MPs in diverse ways and at the same time involve both Administrative and Management functions and they are stakeholders. They are remunerated for performing such functions. In that direction, the Finance Department exists to ensure that payment for their services in the form of monthly emoluments are well calculated so that the right amount of PAYE and NaSSIT contribution calculated. The Finance Department also has the responsibility to advise every staff of Parliament on the financial implications of the various departmental activities and the appropriateness of documentations before disbursements of funds are done.

External Services Offered
The object of Parliament Finance Department is to provide socio economic and financial information for decision-making. The finance Department often does this analysing a series of activities which are linked and form a progression of steps beginning with observing, then collecting, recording, analysing and finally communicating information to its users. In that regard, the Finance Department had a wide range of financial services to its external stakeholders, including the Accountant General’s Department and the Ministry of Finance, the Audit Service Sierra Leone, the Parliamentary Service and the Commission, and Development Partners.

Rules and Disciplined of your Departmental Operations
Finance is the life blood of a thriving institution and Parliament is not an exception. In that regard the Finance Department of the Sierra Leone Parliament has embarked on financial discipline approach in processing transactions. The Department had provided checklist for processing of payments for the various parliamentary activities, ranging from procurement of goods, services and works, stores handling to local and international travels. The rules are clearly stated in the Finance Manual of the Finance Department of the Sierra Leone Parliament.

Names, Phone Numbers and official e-mails of Staff Members in the Department

How to Utilise your Key Product/Service
The key product of Parliament of Sierra Leone Finance Department is Accounting Information. In encouraging users of Finance Department of Parliament of Sierra Leone Accounting Information, the Finance Department ensures that all users must have a good understanding of what the Department is trying to achieve. This will help them understand the stand point of Parliament Finance Department, which among others is the ensure value for money is attained, i.e. the pursuit of five (5) E’s – economy, effectiveness, effectiveness, equity and ethics.

Your Departmental Expectation(s) for the Sixth Session – Tenth Session
It is a growing concern across users of financial information to improve the finance process by reducing manual interventions while automating processes and controls. Against this background, Finance Department of Parliament of Sierra Leone’s expectation, among others is to reduce economic and financial wastages through the use of automated system of transactions processing.