UK lost £2 mn to fuel fraud at Sierra Leone mission

The UK government has lost about £2 million ($2.5 million) due to fuel fraud at its diplomatic mission in Sierra Leone, according to a letter made public on Wednesday.

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the losses were "predominantly relating to the procurement of diesel fuel for the High Commission's electricity generators" in Freetown.

As elsewhere, inflation has soared in Sierra Leone since the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, leading to a sharp hike in food and fuel prices.

In a letter to the UK parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, dated June 8, the top civil servant at the FCDO, Philip Barton, said "a number of country-based staff colluded to circumvent controls".

"The staff believed to have been involved have been suspended and disciplinary action is ongoing," he added.

Barton said he was highlighting the issue to explain an expected discrepancy in upcoming accounts for the last financial year.

Diamond-rich Sierra Leone is one of the world's poorest countries and still recovering from a brutal 1991-2002 civil war and the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic.

About 43 percent of the 7.5 million population live on less than $1.90 a day, according to the World Bank.

The government in Freetown has imposed sharp price increases on petrol and diesel, triggering strikes, blockades and protests on the streets.

Power cuts are routine given a lack of electricity infrastructure, forcing those who can afford it to use generators to keep the lights on.

AFP