By Precious D. Freeman
The Auditor General of the General Auditing Commission (GAC), Garswa Jackson, is calling on the leadership of the Legislature, the Office of the President, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning as well as the World Bank and all other development partners to ensure that the financial independence of the GAC is operationalize.
According to him, this will represent a bold step in their national quest to enhance transparency, accountability, and good governance in Liberia.
He made the remarks in Monrovia recently at the opening ceremony of a day-long workshop on strengthening the independence of the audit function in Liberia.
He said further that irrespective of the existing challenges, the GAC has evolved to be one of the most independent Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) on the African continent indicating, “As a country, since the passage of the GAC Act of 2014, we have overcome major threats to operational independence experience by many SAIs on the continent.”
“The General Auditing Commission is the Supreme Audit Institution of Liberia, the country’s constitutional independent external auditors. Supreme Audit Institutions have an essential role in the governmental accountability framework, as they are crucial for promoting transparency, accountability, and responsible management of public funds,” he said.
He added that to establish trust, credibility, and effectiveness in fulfilling this role, they must maintain independence from their national governments and be shielded from external influences.
GAC boss maintained that the independence of SAIs is thus a crucial foundation for ensuring the efficient audit and oversight in the use of public resources.
“Financial Independence implies that SAI can directly apply for the required funding from parliament and, as necessary, freely dispose of their appropriated budget during the fiscal year. The General Auditing Commission (GAC) operational independence has been formally and fully strengthened since the passage of the GAC Act of 2014,” he said.
He noted that however, the GAC is yet to achieve its financial independence in practice, adding that per the GAC Act of 2014, the Auditor General should submit an annual budget to be exclusively examined and approved by the Legislature. Also, the approved budget should be disbursed twice a year to enable access to finance during the conduct of audits.
“This is not happening in practice; hence, we are yet to achieve financial independence in practice. While it is true that the Auditor General submits annual budgets to the Legislature, the approved budget of the GAC is usually based on the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning’s projection, and approved budgets have not been disbursed as required,” AG Jackson stated.
“As we await the results of the recent status of our independence as assessed by the World Bank, we believe, the most important element in achieving the highest standards of independence at GAC lies in the achievement of our financial independence in practice,” he said.
Meanwhile, he expressed thanks and appreciation to the World Bank for facilitating yet again another comprehensive assessment of their independence status, a very important instrument in strengthening their mandate.
