President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has directed the General Auditing Commission (GAC) to conduct a comprehensive audit of three key government institutions.
Those institutions are the Central Bank of Liberia, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Executive Protection Service (EPS).
It will also be the first time in years that the two security entities that receive budgetary allocations are being audited.
President Boakai, in a communication to the Auditor General of the GAC, requests that the audit covers the period between 2018 and 2023, and that it the findings be reported in three months.
The audit period spans the six-year stewardship of the erstwhile government, which President Boakai promised to audit as President.
The audit of the three institutions marks the beginning of a holistic audit of government ministries and agencies in keeping with the President’s commitment to fighting corruption as well as ensuring transparency and accountability in the governance of the country.
President Boakai at different public engagements, most notably, the campaign period, the inaugural address and the annual message committed and recommitted to ensuring that a comprehensive audit of the previous government is done.
During his annual message, President Boakai announced that what his predecessor reported on the state of the country’s financial standing at the CBL was far from reality based on documentary records and re-emphasized the need to audit the CBL and other agencies.
“The net international reserves position reported at the end of December 2023 was US$220 million. The report of US $40 million as the GoL’s consolidated account balance as at January 19, 2024 is not supported by the fact. The balance reported by the CBL as of the same date was US$20.5 million, highly encumbered, NOT US$40 million,” President Boakai announced during the annual message.
He furthered that “to this end, we re-emphasize our earlier commitment to audit and ensure that regular audits will be a culture across all branches of government, not only the Executive.”
Audit is needed urgently at the Ministry of Finance because there have been serious allegations that the Minister dished out funds for political parties without being budgeted testament is the US$ 50 million directed towards the CDC campaign as well as the withdrawal of US$18 million to pay salary for December.
It is hoped that the audit at the EPS will extend to the reported financial impropriety with its Development Account.
Though it is clear that the EPS administration had absolutely no dealings with the account as the initiative was brought about by the EPS agents themselves who elected a number of their colleagues to spearhead the transactions of the account but in October 2022, there was a financial syndicate with said Development Fund which led to the reported underpayment of approximately 100 EPS agents.
Approximately US$300,000 was withdrawn from the account without the knowledge and consent of those contributing to the account, and that the head of the development fund had fled the country with a huge sum of money in revenge for being used to withdraw money from the account by the EPS leaders but without benefitting.
The EPS Comptroller, Philip Mahn, stated clearly that payment of EPS personnel is straightly handled by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
This has been an issue since 2022 which is yet to be resolved, which some personnel asking for retroactive payment for the months they were underpaid. This issues borders on security welfare and an audit is necessary.
Similar cloud hangs over funds generated from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection’s adoption and sectorial clearances divisions as well as the Ministry of Health death and health certificate division as well as the Ministry of Transport’s license and motor vehicle registration department which has now spread out to motorbikes and kehkehs.
The National Transit Authority- since the inception of the CDC-led government there have been no report amidst the financial malpractice by the institution head, McCaulley wherein some allegation is that he placed his daughter on government’s payroll making US$ 800 monthly without reporting to work. All of the buses donated by the Indian Government are all down and the place is being operated by buses owned by Senator Saah Joseph.
Within the Ministry of Agriculture looking into different projects, those directly heading the projects are alleged of giving certain percentages to the direct Ministers, just to name a few and citizens are optimistic that the audits will have to cover payrolls as well so as to clear off ghosts’ names and give dignity to civil servants who are qualified and working.
