By S. Siapha Mulbah
President Joseph Boakai has commissioned the Internal Audit Agency to do a comprehensive audit of the monies that were appropriated for the January 22 inauguration ceremony at the Capitol Building in Monrovia.
The IAA was commissioned on January 24, 2024, two days into the Boakai-Koung administration, following speculations by the public and the media that the US$65,000 budget for the inauguration was allegedly mismanaged by the leadership of the Joint Presidential Transitional Team, which led to the poor planning and execution of the program, thereby bringing the country to public ridicule and international embarrassment.
With less than a week into the rebirthed Unity Party’s leadership, the anti-graft institution says the new government has expressed keen interest in ensuring accountability for the Liberian people’s resources and will conduct every needful audit to have funds intended for public use accounted for by officials.
The Director General of the IAA, David Kemah, noted that they have communicated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make available every document that will be essential to the inauguration program.
According to Director Kemah, the IAA is mandated to conduct audits of all kinds, whether special or compliance audit, and the auditing of the newest situation is to commit the agency’s readiness to work with the administration in eradicating the rampant corruption cases reported across Liberia.
“Today, the IAA is commissioned to conduct a special audit of the inauguration activities for the President and Vice president of the Republic of Liberia. A communication has been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make available the necessary documents to the IAA so we can review the financial and operational activities of the inauguration,” he added.
He said the anti-graft body will financially investigate basic information on the actual budget allocated for the event, the amount received by the transitional team, as well as the full expenditure with credibility on the monetary usage, noting, “The managers of the entire event will be audited to show a new beginning for the Liberian Government. This will help us to protect the credibility of the government as they kick off the working of an administration that priorities transparency and accountability across the public sector.”
He explained that the IAA is not only concerned about going after funds in reported isolation, but will continue working in the public sector and reporting to the President’s office on the cradles of his agenda.
While the transitional team headed by Miatta Fahnbulleh and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is being audited by the IAA for financial malpractices, the ruling Unity Party has admitted to misapplying U$5,000 allotted to districts across the country for the celebration of the inaugural ceremony at the district level.
As a means of including a considerate portion of the public, the Unity Party allotted U$365,000 to be disbursed to all 73 districts across Liberia for the celebration of the inaugural ceremony by projecting the event on big screens for the locals to watch, as well as providing some refreshment.
To the dismay of many persons, especially the opposition, some officials of the party confirmed yesterday that the funding was reduced by 20 percent, which is contrary to the intent of the allocation.
A press release issued by the party is quoted as saying, “Prior to fund disbursement to the counties, a meeting was initiated by all 15 County Chairs, during which they proposed the deduction of $1,000.00 per district. This decision aimed to enable county leadership, collaborating parties, and auxiliaries, to conduct similar celebrations at their respective county headquarters. The collective agreement for the deduction was not an instruction from the National Chairman.”
The national leadership of the party has also instructed all counties’ structural leaderships to submit comprehensive expenditure reports of funds received to the National Secretariat of the party to justify their individual expenditures at the district levels by January 31, 2024.
