Big Mess As Audit Service Exposes Zoodlabs

The Auditor-General’s Report on the Accounts of Sierra Leone for the Financial Year ended 31st December, 2023 was tabled in the Parliament of Sierra Leone on the 17th December 2024.

According to the report, Zoodlabs (SL) Limited has defaulted in the payment of its annual fixed fee of US$1,440 (One Million Four Hundred and Forty-Four US Dollars) to the Consolidated Fund for the operation, maintenance and commercial management services of the Ace Submarine Fibre Optic Cable Landing Station and the ancillary infrastructure of Sierra Leone.

“There was however no evidence that the amount was paid into the Consolidated Fund for the period under review,” the report exposed.

Since the Zoodlabs contract was signed between the Ministry of Information and Communications and Zoodlabs (SL) Limited in December 2020 for a period of fifteen years, there has been a series of allegations of influence peddling and last mile operations by the company. Mobile Network Operators and ISPs continue to blame Zoodlabs for poor network services and price manipulation.

Zoodlabs took over the management of the Ace Submarine Fibre Optic Cable after SALCAB was unbundled in 2020, with the hope that things will get better. The unbundling of SALCAB has cast a dark shadow over the government’s decision to lease a vital national asset to a private company owned by a foreign national.

News 24 newspaper